Treason case against Musharraf: government to fulfil constitutional obligations: minister

The government will fulfil all constitutional obligations in pursuance of the high treason case against former president Pervez Musharraf, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid said on Thursday. Talking to media persons after attending the executive committee meeting of All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) on Thursday, Pervaiz Rashid said that the treason case against the "former president" had not been initiated by the incumbent government. But, he said, it had submitted a reply in the Supreme Court in this regard under the Constitution.
The government was bound to pursue the court proceedings in high treason case against Musharraf in accordance with the directives of the Supreme Court, he said. Terming apprehensions expressed by former army chief Aslam Beg regarding Musharraf's trial baseless and expressed the confidence that all state institutions would work within their constitutional ambits‚ hence "there is no reason for confrontation". Responding to a question, Pervaiz Rashid said that the law of the land would take its own course and the government would fully cooperate with the courts, adding that a committee had been formed on the issue of the Swiss letter, which would present its report.
Rashid said that the government was making sincere efforts to overcome energy crisis, adding that the Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif would chair a high level meeting on Friday (today) to finalise a national energy policy. Earlier speaking at the APNS meeting, the Information Minister announced that a committee would be formed to settle issues such as newspapers' media list and regional papers' quotas, besides assuring the APNS that he would personally take up the matter of 10 percent increase in government sector advertisements. He said that steps would be taken to resolve problems being faced by the print media.