Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said the government had decided to hold local bodies polls in the federal capital.
Addressing the participants of 96th National Management Course at Prime Minister House here, the prime minister said, “I have decided to hold local body elections in Islamabad.”
A mayor will head the local government in the Federal Capital like those in cities like Istanbul and Dhaka, he added. He said the establishment of local governments improved governance. But it is unfortunate that the provincial governments still have to hold local body elections, he added.
The Prime Minister said in democracy, the mandate of people should be accepted, and they had given a split mandate which led to formation of a coalition government and “we have to live with it”.
He said his government continued with the policy of reconciliation which should be taken as a strength and not as a weakness.
He said the present parliament passed more than 100 laws and amendments which was a far better record then than of a past government with even two-third majority. “The policy of reconciliation and taking decisions with collective wisdom is working. We will have to work in coalitions. If we accept this, we will be able to move forward,” he noted.
The PM said the democratic government was committed to the vision of Pakistan being a progressive, federal, democratic, pluralistic, moderate and peaceful country.
The 1973 Constitution was a great achievement of the Pakistan People’s Party under the charismatic leadership of Quaid-i-Awam Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, he added.
He said the fundamental spirit of this constitution was that all national policies have to be people-centric.the provisions of Chapters 1 & 2 of Part-II pertain to the Fundamental Rights and Principles of Policy, which explain the vision of Pakistan, he added.
“There is no denying the fact that the Constitution of 1973 has been instrumental in keeping the federation intact after the debacle of Dhaka in 1971.”
Import of gas, electricity from Iran top priority: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said that his top priority was expeditious implementation of Pak-Iran gas pipeline and import of electricity agreements.
Talking to Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Alireza Haghinghian who paid a courtesy call on the prime minister, Gilani said he would direct Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan to follow the implementation of agreements concluded between Pakistan and Iran.
The prime minister said that he had extremely useful meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his visit to Islamabad to take part in trilateral meeting.
He said Iran and Pakistan were having excellent multi-dimensional cooperation in the fields of trade, infrastructure, energy and culture.
