Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani while dispelling any political threat to the government has said that it was only facing economic problems that would be addressed by taking all the political parties on board. He said this while talking to reporters after the ground-breaking ceremony of Parliament Lodges phase-II here on Wednesday.
He said that Pakistan was confronting grave economic challenges for the last five years as the previous government had not launched gas exploration, electricity generation and irrigation projects. He vowed that PPP-led government would address all these issues and urged the political leadership to help the government find a way out of these economic and social problems.
The prime minister said his government was striving hard to overcome the financial shortfall taking it as a challenge. "I don't have political threat, I am confronted with economic threat and I am sure that we will overcome it," the prime minister said. He said the war on terrorism greatly impacted the country's economy along with global recession, adding prudent steps were required to deal with the gravity of the economic situation.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ruled out possibility of talks with the terrorists and said that no compromise will be made on country's sovereignty. He was of the view that acts of terrorism were responsible for all the challenges being faced by Pakistan today and elimination of the menace is the only solution to put the country on the path of progress.
He maintained that entire political leadership of the country was on the same page on the issue of terrorism, which was playing havoc with the economy, adding that the government would make no compromise on terrorism. He, however, said that the government would only talk to those terrorists, who would surrender and accept the writ of the government. The Premier said, "Terrorism and extremism threaten Pakistan and is taking heavy toll on our economy".
Referring to gas and power crises, Gilani said that had a solid plan charted out earlier, the crises could have been averted. He maintained that the incumbent government has conceded to all the offers made by the opposition. He said had proper planning been done some five years back, the issue of inflation would not have grown to such a huge proportion. He also attributed the increase in demand to the rapidly growing population that has burdened country's capacity to generate gas and electricity.
About governor rule or deployment of army in Karachi to control the law and order situation, Gilani said it would be taken in consultation with all political stakeholders. The prime minister said that all the political parties showed severe concern over target killings in Karachi for which the government had summoned the National Assembly session to discuss the law and order situation in Pakistan's commercial hub and to find ways to bring normalcy to the city.
Gilani said that the Interior Minister Rehman Malik would brief him on the current law and order situation in the Karachi and government would ensure peace in the city at any cost. The government will take entire political leadership on board in addressing the issue of target killings in Karachi; he added and said that intelligence agencies provincial as well as federal governments were trying their level best to control target killings in Karachi.
He said intelligence agencies, provincial government and political parties were giving feedback to the government on law and order situation particularly target killings in Karachi. The Prime Minister said that to some extent there has been some reduction in the target killings in Karachi. He said the matter pertaining to Rental Power Plants RPPs was sub judice, but the power plants against whom there was no complaints, were working. He said action would be taken against controversial RPPs.
Earlier, addressing the gathering at the ground breaking ceremony of 104 additional family suites for the parliamentarians to be constructed at a cost of Rs 2.9 billion, Gilani directed the Chairman CDA to ensure that the project, spread over four acres, meets international quality and be completed in time.
Gilani said, he in his capacity as Minister for Housing in the 1988 had the credit of constructing several landmark buildings in the federal capital, including parliament lodges, Faisal Mosque, Ministers' enclave and launching of housing scheme for federal employees.
The Prime Minister also asked the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Speaker National Assembly to discuss the feasibility of constructing an underground access from Parliament Lodges to the Parliament building. He said he was pleased to note that the scheme initiated to provide housing to the federal government employees was still continuing and those who spent entire life in the service of the nation were provided shelter, when they get retirement.
Gilani rejected reports that he had given any plot to 11 journalists. He said the plots were awarded out of the 3 percent quota for the journalist community and the application has to be routed through the Information Minister to the Housing Minister.