Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said that all the policy decisions would be taken by the Parliament because it was accountable to the people and therefore the authority to formulate national policies lay with the Parliament. He was addressing the Parliamentarians belonging to the coalition partners here in the Committee Room No. 2 of the Parliament. President of ANP, Asfandyar Wali, Deputy Convener of MQM, Dr. Farooq Sattar, Leader of PML (Q), Riaz Hussain Pirzada, representatives of FATA Parliamentary Group and Parliamentarians belonging to Coalition parties were present.
The Prime Minister took them into confidence on the decisions taken by the government after the gruesome incident on Pakistani boarders by the NATO/ISAF forces.
Gilani said that after the attack by NATO forces, the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) meeting was summoned on the same day that decided the suspension of the NATO supplies and the vacation of Shamsi airbase by the USA within two weeks.
The Prime Minister said that the Cabinet on the following day endorsed the DCC decisions and so did the Parliamentary Committee on the National Security.
He made it clear that the future rules of engagements with the US/NATO would ensure national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said that memo case was a conspiracy against the Parliament because the Parliament consisted of President, Senate and the National Assembly. Targeting the President means targeting the Parliament, the Prime Minister asserted.
Gilani recalled that Nawaz Sharif, while addressing the public meeting in Faisalabad, announced that he would approach the Supreme Court if the government did not take decision on memo issue within 10 days.
The Government took the decisions within four days and referred the matter to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, he still went to the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister stated.
About the health of the President, the Prime Minister said that he spoke to the President today (Thursday) in which the President said that he was feeling well and would fully recover soon.
