‘Parliamentary committee should include all parties’

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday said that the 18th Constitutional Amendment Act has raised the expectations of the people from parliament and from political parties.

He hoped that all parties will rise to these expectations and address the problems. President Asif Ali Zardari added that there have been serious challenges and difficulties in pursuing the policy of reconciliation but the government has overcome them successfully. He told his audience he would recommend to Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani to set up a parliamentary committee drawn from members in all political parties to reach a consensus and suggest solutions in order to solve the problems faced by Pakistan.

President Asif Ali Zardari said that energy and water issues along with militancy and extremism will continue to be dominant issues for some time and called for a consensus based approach through parliament to address them. “Strengthening and reforming the education sector is extremely important and this will be best addressed with consensus from all political parties in the country that are represented in parliament,” he added.