Institutions should function within constitutional limits: Kayani

Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Monday declared support for the democratic system and said that the country’s development and welfare depended on state institutions functioning within their constitutional limits.
“The country’s constitution has clearly defined the responsibilities and functions of national institutions and it is incumbent on them to perform their duties with constitutional limits,” Kayani said while addressing the army’s Youm-e-Shuhada (Day of Martyrs) ceremony.
In an apparent reference to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s conviction on contempt charges by the Supreme Court, the army chief said the prime objective of the democratic system is to ensure the welfare, happiness and increased dignity of the people and the establishment of a balanced society where every person can get justice equally.
“This is the only way which can further strengthen Pakistan’s national security,” he said during the late night ceremony to honour soldiers killed in the line of duty and while fighting extremists. The military, he said, believes in a “strong democratic system and its continuation”.
At the same time, Kayani touched on the national security situation and said Pakistan is “still in a state of war” despite unprecedented sacrifices made by the people and security forces in the campaign against terrorists and extremists.
The army chief also referred to the unilateral US raid in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden and a cross-border NATO airstrike that left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead in November last year and said “some foreign elements had launched a campaign of mistrust” despite the sacrifices made by the Pakistani people and armed forces.
This campaign “pushed the entire nation into a psychological crisis and forced the nation to review relations with others”, he said. “We think that others will have to keep in mind our sovereignty, pride and honour,” he added.
“While keeping the people’s aspiration in mind, the armed forces will work according to any national policy forged through consensus to protect the country’s sovereignty and honour,” Kayani said.