Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said most of leaders in political history of Pakistan, had been running the country by putting their opponents in jails while he has completed 4-year as Prime Minister by getting political opponents out of jails, and currently there is no political prisoner.
Addressing a delegation of Pakistan Business Association South Korea, led by Hafiz Abdul Waheed, Gilani said he had to face the imprisonment and came out with the pledge of rejecting politics of vendetta and victimization for all times. The Prime Minister said that he would see the Parliament to complete the tenure, whether the political opponents extend the felicitation or not. On this, the Business Community acknowledged the Prime Minister with a big round of applause and chanted pro-democracy slogans.
The Prime Minister said during his meeting on Tuesday he told the US President that Pakistan democracy would complete its tenure, thus strengthening the democratic process in the country. He directed the ambassador to start issuing machine readable passports to the Pakistanis living in this country and this directive must be implemented well before the forthcoming visit of the President of Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said the present government had granted the right of vote to overseas Pakistani which would provide them an opportunity to take part in the country's politic and the decision-making process, having bearings on matters of national importance.
He highly appreciated the role of expatriates for sending billions of dollars as remittances back home, which are so important for the economy of the country. The Prime Minister said despite the global recession, the economy of the country has moved in the right direction as Pakistan's reserves are more than 17 billion dollars, and exports are all time high.
The stock exchange has crossed the figure of 13,500 points, and tax revenue collection has registered growth of 26 per cent, he added. He said Pakistan is now a wheat-exporting country, despite the global recession, two floods and scourge of terrorism. The Prime Minister said during his stay in South Korea he had very good formal and informal meetings on the sidelines with the US President, Chinese President, Prime Minister of India, Prime Minister of Turkey, President of Indonesia, Prime Minister of South Korea, President of South Korea and Prime Minister of Vietnam including leading business conglomerates of the country like Samsung, Lotto, Kay Water Resources etc.
Gilani said his government had added 3400 MW in the national grid system and was also pro-actively working on short term, medium term and long terms power projects to overcome the electricity shortage on permanent basis. He said during meetings with the Chairmen and CEOs of the big companies, he urged them to invest in Pakistan to overcome the energy shortage.
The members of the Pakistan community congratulated the Prime Minister for strengthening democracy in the country adding that they want to see the country as a prosperous and peaceful nation. The Business Council thanked the Prime Minister and said that with the visit of the Prime Minister, the community's morale stood elevated. The representatives of the community also demanded that PIA flights should be started in collaboration with the Korean airline.