No plans to sack army chief or ISI DG, says Gilani

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani rejected as “absurd” on Monday the impression and rumours that the government had any intention to remove the chief of army staff (COAS) or the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general and said only some opportunists were presenting this theory to the nation.
“There are rumours that the government probably wants to remove them (COAS, ISI chief). This is absurd. Some opportunists are presenting this theory before the nation, which is wrong,” Gilani said in response to a question while talking to reporters here at Prime Minister’s House. The prime minister said it was on his request COAS General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha were given extensions. “I am happy with him,” Gilani remarked with reference to Gen Kayani.
In response to another question about his remarks of “a state within a state”, Gilani clarified: “It pertained to the attitude of the federal defence secretary,” and added that every institution was under the government and there could not be a separate government. In response to a question about the extension of Gen Kayani and Lt Gen Pasha, Gilani said: “You cannot change the generals in the middle of a war,” – a reference to the war on terror. “That was on my request”, he said, adding they did not seek extensions. “Gen Kayani is pro-democracy,” he remarked further. In response to another question, Gilani also rejected the notion of any tension between the government and the army and said: “How can we run a government if there is any tension?” Gilani also said he had spoken to the Joint Chiefs of the Staff Committee chairman on “certain issue” on Monday.
About his recent speech to the National Assembly, the prime minister said addressing the National Assembly and Senate was his prerogative. He said the performance of the democratically elected government could not be compared to the regime of General (r) Pervez Musharraf, which had no mandate to rule the people of the country through a referendum. He said at the start of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Ishaq Dar was the finance minister and he was on record about the dismal state of the economy inherited from the Musharraf regime. He said 2012 would be the year of Balochistan and the government would also focus its attention on controlling inflation and the issue of circular debt. The government, he said, could not go on using the option of borrowing and printing money as it would not be good for the economy.
He said it was the right of the opposition to play to the gallery and embarrass the government. “Politics is a day to day affair and nobody should worry whether the country or religion is in danger,” he remarked. Gilani said he realised that people were facing problems of electricity and gas shortage but wanted to provide relief within available resources as every government would like to get votes on the basis of its performance.
The prime minister said it was customary not to accept the result of elections. “The same happened in the 1977 elections when results were not accepted and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and opposition parties held talks and all points were agreed but the third force came and a long martial law followed,” he said. Gilani also said he never stated that the government should complete its tenure, rather he always stressed that parliament, which was a nascent institution, should complete its tenure. He said he never insisted to stay in office. “It is not a bed of roses. It is a bed of thorns,” he remarked.