I'm the longest-serving premier in Pakistan's history: Gilani

Gilani asks what the opposition did when they were in power, says govt’s job is to follow mandate of the people.

LAHORE: Faced by the possibility of being stripped of office, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said that he already has the privilege of being the longest-serving premier in the history of Pakistan.

“The only stable position rests with Allah,” he told reporters on Friday, after speaking at the ninth convocation of the Lahore College for Women University. “All my actions are in compliance with the constitution and accord to the rule of law.”

Gilani, who appeared before the Supreme Court on Thursday for contempt proceedings against him, confidently responded to question on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief’s constant demand that a letter be written to Swiss authorities. “The matter is now in court and its verdict will be followed. We will also respect the court’s ruling on the issue of presidential immunity.” His objective, he said, is to strengthen the judiciary and democracy.

When asked about the opposition’s charges of a clash among institutions, he chose to reiterate what he is always said: “if all institutions follow the tracheotomy of powers, they will work within their constitutional limits and there will be no clash among institutions.”

Asked about the opposition’s demand for early elections, he said that the job of the government is to follow the people’s mandate and that of the opposition to criticise rulers. But he used the opportunity to ask the opposition to dwell on their own record of governance as well.

The premier said that dictators who came into power made tall claims on ending corruption and poverty, but despite staying in power for decades, the fail to do so. “They still say that the nation is missing them and they want to come back. We want to tell them that there is no chance for them to come back,” he said, in a thinly-veiled reference to former president Pervez Musharraf who is expected to return for the next general elections.

Nato supplies

When asked if the government will reopen Nato supply routes that were closed after the November killings of Pakistani soldiers, Gilani said the government has left that decision to the parliamentary committee on national security.  “Once the committee hands over its recommendations, we will call a joint session of parliament.”

Gilani said that the government had responded in a befitting manner to the attack. “We got the US forces to vacate the Shamsi Airbase, boycotted the Bonn Conference and blocked Nato supplies through Pakistani routes,” he said. “We did this because we are not answerable to any other country.”

Energy crisis

Speaking about the energy crisis, which has become a sore point for the incumbent government, Gilani said that he was aware of the gravity of the situation and had added 3,334MW of electricity to the national grid. “In the next six months, we will resolve the problems of the electricity, gas and petroleum sectors,” he said.

He said that he had presented a policy statement before the National Assembly over the issues and had asked for the opposition’s recommendations.