No threat of judicial or military coup: Gilani

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said that there was no threat of either "judicial" or "military" coup as both the institutions were pro-democracy and did not want to derail the system. The Prime Minister was responding to the queries of callers from across the country in a live PTV's programme "Prime Minister Online".
To a question about the submission of reply by the Government, Army, and ISI to the Supreme Court in Memo Case, the Prime Minister said there will be one reply from the executive authority. The Prime Minister in response to another question said Pakistan's decision to boycott the Bonn Conference in protest against the Nato/ISAF attack and violation of its sovereignty, was final and taken collectively. "How can we attend the conference when our sovereignty came under attack?" he asked.
The soil of Afghanistan was used against sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan, he added. He said the decision of staying away from the Bonn Conference was taken after thoughtful consideration and after the meeting of the Federal Cabinet which also endorsed the decisions of halting Nato supplies and vacation of Shamsi Airbase, taken by the Defence Committee of the Cabinet. The decision was unanimous and taken with collective wisdom, he said adding, "If we sit in the Bonn Conference and another attack takes place who will be responsible for that."
"When German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked me to attend the conference, I told her that the matter is referred to a high powered Parliamentary Committee on National Security," he added. He said in his opinion, the decision in relation to Bonn Conference was in line with national honour, self-respect and dignity. He denied that the government was considering sending Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to Bonn.
Gilani said Pakistan can work with the United States, Nato and ISAF under a new agreement and by devising new rules of engagement. "We have to formulate new rules of engagement and we can work under a new agreement." The Prime Minister said it is upto the Parliamentary Committee on National Security to give recommendations for a decision on ties with the US and Nato. He said the military government of Pervez Musharraf first decided the rules of engagements with the US and Nato.
To a question, he said the international community condemned the Nato attack on Pakistani posts. It is an attack on the integrity of Pakistan and it was decided in the resolutions of the joint sitting of the parliament and All Parties Conference that if US again takes a unilateral action, Pakistan will respond, he said.
He said he will attend the meeting of the National Security Committee of Parliament on Friday and the members will be briefed on the Nato attack and other issues. The recommendations of the parliamentary committee will be put before joint session of the parliament. To a question about memo issue, the Prime Minister said he called the then ambassador, Husain Haqqani, to Pakistan; he submitted resignation and his matter was referred to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security.
He recalled when for the first time the issue of memo was raised by the Leader of the Opposition on floor of the National Assembly, he took the house into confidence about government's position. He said the ambassador was asked by him to submit resignation so that a fair trial can be held in an issue that became a matter of national security. Husain Haqqani should not be condemned unheard, he remarked.
The Prime Minister said the memo issue has been referred to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, in which all the parties in both the houses of parliament are represented. The Prime Minister said Haqqani did not intend to go out of Pakistan and "we are as patriotic as anybody else." To a question about Russia's reaction to the Nato attack, he said Russia is a sovereign country, which has its own bilateral relations and international commitments.
To another question, he said the Director General Military Operations (DGMO) will brief the cabinet about situation arising out of Nato attack and Parliamentary Committee on National Security will also be briefed. Gilani said PPP government restored thousands of employees, who were sacked in 1996.
"I went to jail for giving jobs to the people and now we are holding Caravan Tameer to complete development projects and the government has already spent Rs 1.5 trillion on schemes, which will create job opportunities." He said Pakistan rendered huge sacrifices in war on terror. Some elements are working on a foreign agenda and it has nothing to do with religion, he added.
Prime Minister Gilani, while responding to a query by a caller about Nato attack, said the matter has been referred to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, which is an appropriate forum to take up and discuss the issue. In response to another question, the Prime Minister said the memo issue was very sensitive matter as it pertained to national security, adding, however, credibility of Ejaz Mansoor was also questionable. Gilani rejected the view that a number of PPP leaders were deserting the party with some reservations, stating categorically that those PPP leaders who were committed to the party and its ideology did never leave the party in any circumstance.
To a question if he would be the contender for the slot of Prime Minister after the next elections, in the presence of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Gilani said he was not the contender but was given this responsibility by the party, adding, the PPP Chairman should become the Prime Minister and the whole party would be behind him. In response to a question, the Prime Minister said despite various challenges including global recession, floods, war on terror, energy shortages and resource constraints his government achieved various milestones and he has already directed the Minister for Information to showcase the government's four-year achievements. He said the government was working on construction of big dams and Pak-Iran gas pipeline and Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) projects will address the problems of loadshedding of electricity and gas.