MULTAN – Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Sunday the government would not allow anyone to interfere in the government’s affairs because the government had not interfered in the jurisdiction of any other institution, adding that those who were talking about a change of the government should not seek a five-year performance after just a three-year period.
Addressing a public gathering at the Jalalpur Pirwala Stadium after inaugurating a 132KV grid station, which would power 71 villages in the area, Gilani said the government would safeguard the rights of all institutions and defend the rights of parliament. He promised to make a Seraiki province a part of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s next election manifesto.
The supporters responded to the PM’s announcement with slogans and clapping. The PM said that the people had given the government a mandate for five years but they had the right to hold their representatives accountable through elections after the completion of their tenure.
Gilani said that PPP had not come into power through the back door and was democratically elected.
The premier said that a countrywide poverty survey was in progress under the Benazir Income Support Programme and those identified as poor would be given health insurance and life insurance facilities. He announced that the support price of agricultural produce would be raised to ensure due returns to the growers.
He said that a list of those who were unable to pay natural gas or electricity bills was also being prepared so that they could be provided relief. Gilani said that the media had created hype on the Raymond Davis issue. “No one is more patriotic than the PPP and the government will not take any step that undermines the dignity and honour of the country,” he added.
Gilani said law and order in Karachi was a provincial matter, however, law enforcement agencies had been ordered to step up their efforts. He said the recent protests in the Punjab Assembly were expected, but the PPP had always based its politics on reconciliation and would continue to do so despite new developments in Punjab.
He said relations with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif were never strained. He said it was too early to comment on future alliances. The PM said the popularity of a ruling political party could be judged in by-elections, and with PPP candidates winning by-elections in Muzaffargarh, Bahawalpur Gujranwala, Vehari and Sargodha, the people’s support for the PPP was unquestionable.
Separately, Prime Minister Gilani told reporters at the groundbreaking of a cancer treatment facility at the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) that Pakistan had offered field hospitals and medical teams to Japan after a massive earthquake and tsunami had caused massive destruction in the country.
