Disqualification a setback to the democracy: Attorney General didn't consult me, says Gilani

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said that he was saddened by the Supreme Court decision of disqualification of Sharif brothers. Talking to newsmen here on Thursday after a briefing in the Health Ministry, the Prime Minister said that disqualification was a setback to the democracy.
The Prime Minister said that the Attorney General did not consult him or sought advice on the case. Why he would have invited Shahbaz Sharif for talks if he would knew about the Supreme Court decision.
To a question, the Prime Minister said disqualification of Shahbaz Sharif has weakened the democracy and not him. The Prime Minister said he had phoned Shahbaz Sharif soon after the decision and expressed regret. Gilani called him for national consensus, saying if it was need of the hour and must be achieve otherwise non-democratic powers could take advantage of the situation. He did not ruled out the possibility of a review petition to the SC decision.
He said that governor's rule was imposed to fill up the "vacuum" created by the disqualification of Sharif brothers only for a period of two months and the provincial assembly was not suspended. The Prime Minister appealed to the people not to resort to damaging public and private property as this was their own loss. To a question whether there were any chances of having another order like National Reconciliation Ordinance to accommodate Sharif brothers, Gilani said he would support provided there is consensus in the Parliament.
Replying to a question about future political scenario, he said it was a day-to-day affair and tomorrow's scenario could not be predicted today. Meanwhile, a handout issued by the Prime Minister Secretariat about his briefing in the Health Ministry said: "Gillani expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in the timely execution of Mother and Neonatal Child Health Programme.
He directed the Ministry of Health to play more active and efficient role in delivering the desired results as envisioned in the government's plan of providing basic health facilities to every citizen of the country at their doorsteps. He directed the ministry to submit its demand immediately for the next year's PSDP to remove any financial bottlenecks for achieving the targets.
The Prime Minister also directed that proposed cut of 30 percent on current PSDP should not be applicable to health sector and the total development budget of Rs 19 billion be provided to the ministry. Underscoring the importance of ownership for the success of any programme, the Prime Minister constituted a committee to look into the problems of effective implementation of Family Planning & Primary Healthcare Programme, including strengthening the role of 120,000 Lady Health Workers.
He advised that strict control be maintained over the spending of public money, to avoid wastage of public money due to overlapping and duplication. He entrusted the newly formed committee to take all the stakeholders and particularly the provincial governments on board to ensure better co-ordination. He also emphasised the importance of decentralisation of such a big programme.
Gillani asked the ministry to put up the draft legislation before the Cabinet so that necessary action could be taken towards realising the government vision of health for all including the introduction of health insurance scheme for the vulnerable segments of the society. He also asked the ministry to ensure the availability of essential drugs in the market.
The Prime Minister further directed the ministry to undertake health projects in Fata to ensure provision of basic health facilities to people there and to supplement the government efforts for improving socio-economic conditions of the area. The newly constituted committee included the Minister for Health, the Minister of State for Health, Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Special Assistance to the PM on Social Sector, Ms Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Secretary Health, DG Health and the Programme Manager.