Terming the unanimous passage of 18th Amendment Bill as a dividend of reconciliatory politics, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said that it will establish supremacy of parliament and strengthen democracy. Speaking in National Assembly after passage of the bill, Gilani said the unanimous passage of the bill has proved that parliament is supreme and no one can call it a rubber stamp in future.
"This bill is a dividend of politics of reconciliation, which will strengthen institutions and create balance of power between the president and parliament as all the laws, introduced by dictators have been repealed," he added. The prime minister said politics of reconciliation not only helped us in achieving this goal but also paved way for Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan package, NFC Award and fighting terrorism with full might.
It was the politics of reconciliation, he added, for which the nation stood united in war against terrorism and it was for the first time in the history of mankind that 2.5 million IDPs were repatriated to their houses within three months.
He said the bill is yet another major achievement of Pakistan People's Party government, which would strengthen federation and institutions. He said the most important feature of the 18th Amendment is that an incumbent president gave his powers to the parliament and the people of Pakistan, a gesture that is rare in politics of developing countries.
He said the bill repealed LFO as well as 17th Amendment, which were the symbols of dictatorial regime. General Zia-ul-Haq's name has also been removed from the Constitution.
"This is not a small achievement as the house has repealed all the amendments made by dictators in the past in just one go. The parliament has done its job and has come up to the expectations of masses, Quaid-e-Azam, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif who had signed Charter of Democracy (CoD) to give rule of law a chance in Pakistan," he maintained.
Gilani said the political leadership of the country is doing legislation for future generations. We are not thinking just for ourselves but thinking for the generations to come, he said, adding that we have set a direction for coming generations as our aim was to put the country on the right path.
He acknowledged that problems of masses are countless but not out of reach and stressed the need to proceed together to fulfil the promises made by political parties in their manifestos with the nation. He said now after the passage of this bill, the Cabinet is also accountable to Senate, which will give both the houses equal opportunity to rectify the wrongdoings wherever they feel it is necessary.