Time for mid-term poll is over: Prime Minister

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday rejected Opposition's call for mid-term polls and said it was time for local governments elections in the country. Talking to newsmen here, he said, "the government has just got passed its fourth budget and will request the PML-N leadership to prepare for the next elections as the time for mid-term polls is over."
He said the Opposition was not giving a tough time to the government as the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) had the support of people.
The prime minister said Shaheed Benazir Bhutto had given the vision of politics of reconciliation, foreseeing that in future only coalition governments would be formed and that no single party would be in a position to take majority of seats in the Parliament. "From day one, I believe in the politics of reconciliation, which brought about benefits as the government succeeded in unanimous passage of 18th and 19th Constitutional Amendments and approval of 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award," he added.
Prime Minister Gilani said he was pleased that the PML-N accepted their viewpoint regarding reconciliation politics by stating that it was ready to talk to the MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement).
"Without reconciliation, politics can not succeed in the country. We will continue our politics of reconciliation," he added. To a question, the Prime Minister clarified that the government did not allow US to use of Pakistan's airbases for drone attacks.
The previous government had allowed use of airbases for surveillance purposes only, he added. He said the government had taken up the issue of incursions from Afghans inside in Pakistan's territory and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the Foreign Secretary visited Kabul to discuss the issue.
The Pakistan government protested over border violations and took up the matter with the Afghan government at diplomatic level, he said and added, "Our understanding with the Afghan government has improved and we are making them realise the sensitivity of the situation."
To another question, Gilani said the MQM remained an important ally of the PPP and it supported the government on all important national issues, including 18th and 19th Constitutional Amendments and NFC Award.
As member of the Implementation Commission on Constitutional Reforms, Dr Farooq Sattar worked with Senator Raza Rabbani and was present at the meeting in which the Commission gave a report to the Federal Cabinet, he added.
The prime minister said Multan would get all facilities being accorded to a big city. He said all the political parties were united on the national issues.
He said the government had to face the most difficult challenges and the restoration of Constitution was not an easy task. "The credit goes to PPP government that it restored the Constitution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to its original form," he added.
He said in the past, the PPP never talked of Seraiki province but as more people were raising demand for the new province, therefore President Asif Ali Zardari formed a committee of the party to look into the issue.
The government was working on short, medium and long term projects of three to ten years to meet energy demand, he said and added 2000 megawatts had been added to the national grid and 2000 megawatts more would be added to the system.
He said Thar Coal Project, Diamer Bhasha Dam, TAPI and joint gas and electricity projects with Iran were in pipeline to overcome energy shortage.
He said electricity tariff was raised due to increase in petroleum prices in the international market.
"Commercial consumers should pay more for energy while we are looking for ways to provide relief to the domestic consumers," he added. The prime minister said the provincial governments should hold local government elections.
He said the opposition should not run away from the local elections, and shun its demand for mid-term polls. The PPP showed that it had the support of people by winning polls in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir and bye-elections, he added.
"I support local governments and their elections as I have emerged from grass-roots politics," he said. To a question on military operation in North Waziristan, the prime minister said, "We will not take action on the demand of anybody. Our strategy will be in the best interest of the country. Action will only be taken if it is in the interest of the country and on this issue military and civilian leadership are on the same page."
He said his relations with the PML-N leadership were according to the best parliamentary practices and norms of democracy. The prime minister said he chaired a meeting of Chief Secretaries, Federal Flood Commission, Ministry of Water and Power, Met Department, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and others to review the preparations to tackle floods this year.
He assured of development funds for Multan and directed the administration to efficiently complete the development projects in the region and facilitate flights from Multan to other destinations.
To a question, the prime minister said nothing illegal was done in case of his father-in-law Pir Israr Hussain Shah as court twice decided in his favour in a land case in Rahim Yar Khan.