Parliament to be used for evolving uniform policies: Prime Minister

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the government respects the parliament, and would use the forum for evolving uniform policies on all national issues by taking all the stakeholders into confidence. Talking to media here on Sunday, the prime minister pointed out that parliament was the best forum to formulate national policies through debate and discussion.
He said that as the outstanding issues like Pakistan's relations with US, Kashmir, India and nuclear programme have direct bearings on the sovereignty and security of the country these would be debated in the parliament to evolve a national consensus.
Gilani said that the government would formulate such policies that would reflect the aspirations of the people. To a query, the prime minister said had democracy been strengthened in Pakistan there would have not been any military intervention.
Regarding the safety and security of the nuclear assets of the country he said that they were in safe hands under a complete command and control system.
Prime Minister Gilani urged politicians to stop describing their fellow politicians as 'traitors'. Asking politicians to shun the politics of the 1950's and 1960's, he said they should adopt modern and rational approach and work together in the larger national interests.
Gilani said in the past many politicians such as Hussain Shaheed Suharwardi, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Maulana Abul A'ala Maududi and Nawab Akbar Bugti were dubbed as 'traitors' at times though they were patriots. He asked for shunning the ugly practice.
To a question, the prime minister said PML-N President Nawaz Sharif had filed a petition in the Supreme Court on the memogate issue on his own free will.
He said this was the basic right of Nawaz Sharif to go to the court, however, he did not understand what the politicians wanted to achieve through that.
Speaking about issue of memogate, he said that it was not a big issue but was blown out of proportion. Gilani speaking about the decision of boycotting Bonn Conference on Afghanistan following the shahdat of 24 Pakistan soldiers in a Nato/ISAF attack on checkpost in Mohmand Agency last week, the prime minister said the decision was taken by the Defence Cabinet Committee (DCC) and supported by the people of the country.
Gilani recalled numerous meetings with the Afghan leadership in the recent past in Turkey, Kabul and Maldives and country's efforts for establishing peace in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister stated that Pakistan had also extended full co-operation to Afghanistan and its security apparatus investigating the assassination of former Afghan President Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani. He said Afghan President Hamid Karzai as well as Afghan security officials had thanked the Pakistan government for its co-operation in this regard.
Prime Minister Gilani said the Nato strike at the Salala post clearly showed that the US and Nato had yet to realise sacrifices of Pakistani soldiers and people in the war on terrorism.
He said these sacrifices were more than 30,000 Pakistan military officials and civilians had laid down their lives for the cause of peace and the number was far greater than combined losses sustained by the western forces in Afghanistan.
The prime minister said in his telephonic conversation with Karzai and US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, he had explained reasons behind the decision of Pakistan to refrain itself from the Bonn Conference, which offered little benefit to Islamabad.
Responding to a query prime minister said his government was in favour of local bodies elections, but the subject had been devolved to the provinces and it was now up to the provincial governments to hold LB polls.
Prime Minister Gilani said that during his recent meeting with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Punjab lawmakers, they had complained about stoppage of development funds to their constituencies by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz PML-N-led Punjab government.
Gilani said the federal government had decided to provide all Punjab PPP legislators with development funds without any discrimination to enable them carry out uplift in their constituencies. Answering another question, the prime minister said a joint session of parliament was being summoned on the demand of the opposition.