ISLAMABAD:
Amidst accusations from all sides, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani defended his cornered government yet again on Thursday, playing down “any threat” of a ‘judicial’ or ‘military’ coup.
Both institutions are pro-democracy and do not want to derail the system, he claimed, while responding to callers from across the country in a live programme, ‘Prime Minister Online,’ aired on PTV.
Responding to a question over the memogate case currently being heard in the Supreme Court, the PM said there will only be one reply from the executive authority.
He recalled the first time the issue of memogate was raised in the National Assembly, after which, he said, he took the house into confidence about the position of the government.
He added that he summoned former ambassador Husain Haqqani to Pakistan and asked him to submit his resignation so that a fair trial could be held over the “issue that became a matter of national security”.
“Husain Haqqani should not be condemned unheard,” Gilani remarked.
‘Boycott of Bonn is final’
Gilani reiterated Pakistan’s stance on boycotting the Bonn conference in protest against the Nato/Isaf attack, saying the decision was “final” and was taken collectively.
“How can we attend the conference when our sovereignty came under attack?” Gilani asked. The soil of Afghanistan was used against the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan, he said about the cross border strike in Mohmand that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on Saturday.
PM Gilani said the decision of boycotting the talks on Afghanistan was taken after thoughtful consideration and after a meeting of the Federal Cabinet, which also endorsed the Defence Committee of the Cabinet’s decision to halt Nato supplies as well as its demand for the US to vacate Shamsi Airbase.
“If we sit at the Bonn Conference and another attack takes place, who will be responsible for that?” he said
The premier further said that, in his opinion, the decision to not attend the conference was in line with “national honour, self-respect and dignity”.
He also denied reports that the government was considering sending Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to Bonn.
‘New rules of engagement with the US’
Gilani said that Pakistan can work with the US, Nato and Isaf under a new agreement and by devising new rules of engagement. He said that it was up to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security to give recommendations for a decision on ties with the US and Nato, adding that the committee will hold a meeting in this regard on Friday, which will be attended by him.
The recommendations of the parliamentary committee will then be put before a joint session of the parliament. Gilani also stated that the military government of Pervez Musharraf had first decided the rules of engagement with the US and Nato.
(Read: Our civil-military contradictions)
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2011.
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