Pakistan

Yemen crisis: Gilani calls for APC over opposition’s concerns

Former PM says there is no ambiguity in the resolution on intervention

Our Correspondent April 20, 2015

Former PM says there is no ambiguity in the resolution on intervention. PHOTO: INP

MULTAN:

The government should call an all parties conference to address opposition parties’ concerns over the Yemen crisis, former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Sunday.

He was addressing office bearers of the high court bar association at his residence.

“If the government is worried about the parliamentary resolution against intervention in the Yemen crisis, it should address opposition parties’ concerns and take them into confidence,” he said.

“The parliamentary resolution on Yemen represents the wishes of 180 million Pakistanis. It is clear and there should be no ambiguity regarding its meaning,” he said.

Gilani said that Saudi Arabia was a brotherly country. “The holy places in Saudi Arabia are dear to all Muslims. However, this does not mean that we should become a party to the Yemen crisis,” he said.

Gilani said that the Pakistan Peoples Party believed in resolving national issues through consensus. “Benazir Bhutto laid down her life for the sake of democracy. The PPP is the only political party rooted in the masses. The party will form the government after winning the next elections,” he said.

Gilani said that a number of mega development projects had been completed during the PPP’s tenure. “The present government has done nothing to resolve the problems facing the people of the country. They have not fulfilled the promises that they made before the 2013 elections,” he said.

He said that the local government elections should be held according to the schedule. “Local governments are the nursery for democracy,” he said.

The former prime minister said that the army was rendering sacrifices to restore peace in the country and should be supported. He said the nation stood united on the war against terrorism. He said Benazir Bhutto had been the first to point out that the menace of terrorism needed to be curbed. He said she had lost her life for that position. He said the PPP would continue to render sacrifices for the country and for supremacy of the constitution.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2015.