Jamali enjoying party, allies' support

24 Jun, 2004

Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali said on Tuesday that he enjoyed full support of his party Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and its allies, and rumours about change of government was nothing but a "political kite-flying".
"They are fully supporting me and I will live up to their expectations. I will never breach their trust," Jamali said in television talk show on Tuesday night.
When asked about change of the Prime Minister, he said those rumours had become part of our political culture and were far from the truth. "There is 'political kite-flying' and you will see that political situation will be much better and stable after the budget session," he said.
Jamali dispelled the impression that there were any differences between him and PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, saying, people misconstrued Shujaat's statement about those "hopeful" for the post of the Prime Minister.
Jamali said Chaudhry Shujaat had talked about the basic qualification for a person desirous of becoming a Prime minister. He did not talk about change of the Prime Ministers, he said.
Commenting on Qazi Hussain Ahmed's statement about role of the presidency, the Prime Minister said, Aiwan-e-Sadr was not the hub of conspiracies.
He said, during his meeting with Qazi Hussain Ahmed he sought his co-operation to strengthen the democratic system in the country.
To a question about President's uniform, Jamali said, President Musharraf had always taken decisions in the best national interest, and he and government would support the President whatever decision he took.
About President's meeting with the Parliamentarians, the Prime Minister said, he (President) was part of the Parliament and there was nothing unusual about it.
Jamali said the decision taken by President Musharraf to join the international war on terrorism was in the best national interest as there could have been an Afghanistan or Iraq-like situation in Pakistan.
When asked about "careless" remarks of some of the Ministers against him, the Prime Minister said, there were some "unguided missiles."
However, he said, he had full confidence in his Cabinet colleagues and he always had a very useful interaction with them on all the issues.
Jamali said, "if any one has any problem with me, he should better discuss it directly with me."
The Prime Minister, to a question, said efforts would be made after the budget to have a consensus on the National Finance Commission (NFC) award and remove any reservations by the provinces.
On the situation in Karachi, Jamali said it was not a problem of law and order but of terrorism. "We are devising a new strategy to effectively deal with the menace," he added.
He said Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim had recently assumed the office and he would need some time to streamline the situation.
Replying to a question on the Hadood Ordinance, the Prime Minister said man-made laws could be reviewed and there would be discussion on it in the Parliament.
However, the Prime Minister made it clear that no law would be enacted in Pakistan, which was against the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah (PBUH).
To a question Prime Minister said that the United States forces had admitted to "mistakenly" entered the Pakistani territory and had expressed regrets.
On Pakistan-India ties, Jamali said sincere efforts would be made to find a just and amicable solution to the lingering Kashmir dispute.
Jamali said he would soon visit India in his capacity as the Chairman of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc).
He replied in negative when asked if there was any proposal under consideration to grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India.
On Iraq, the Prime Minister firmly stated that the Parliament would decide about the sending of Pakistani troops to that country.

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