Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Monday that process of elections of the Senate has been completed in a fair, free, impartial and transparent manner. Talking to newsmen here at Prime Minister House, he said, all members of PML and its allied parties were motivated to participate in the elections.
Replying to a question, the Prime Minister rejected the allegations that members were forced to vote for the victory of PML nominated candidates in the Senate.
Shaukat Aziz said that he always appreciated the positive contribution of the opposition in the parliamentary system as both treasury and opposition are integral part of democracy.
The Prime Minister said the process of the Senate elections was completed in an orderly and free atmosphere and opposition participated in the process without any pressure.
He said after election of Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Leader of the House in the Senate, now the Senate Chairman will take decision about the leader of the opposition in the Upper House after discussion with all stakeholders.
Referring to the election of Jan Muhammad Jamali as Deputy Chairman Senate, the Prime Minister said his inclusion has provided representation to all the provinces in the parliament.
He said Speaker National Assembly is from Punjab, Deputy Speaker is from NWFP, Senate Chairman is from Sindh and Deputy Chairman is from Balochistan.
The Prime Minister said Senate having equal representation from all the provinces is the institution to project national unity and solidarity. Replying to a question about formation of caretaker government, the Prime Minister said it would be discussed when the time comes.
Answering a question about adulteration in food and medicines, the Prime Minister said special teams of ministry of health, local, provincial and federal governments are taking adequate steps to check this menace.
He said the Intellectual Property Rights Organisation (IPRO) working under Yasin Tahir, has been able to check the menace of adulteration and piracy in food, medicine and other sectors.
The Prime Minister said due to these efforts, America has removed the name of Pakistan from the Watch List in this regard. He said there are special drug courts that deal with cases of spurious drugs.
Replying to a question about recently held international Kashmir conference organised by Pugwash, the Prime Minister said the conference could help exchange views by different stakeholders. He however, reiterated Pakistan's principle stand on Kashmir and said there was no compromise on it.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan had been struggling for peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue according to the aspirations of the Kashmiris and added that solution acceptable to Pakistan, India and Kashmiris would be a suitable solution. He said all the three stakeholders should work jointly for finding peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue.
Aziz said President Musharraf has presented proposals of demilitarisation and self-rule, which could be the basis for finding solution to the Kashmir issue. He said sustainable peace in the region could only be ensured with the resolution of Kashmir issue.
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