Parliament will decide on all major issues - Gilani

Islamabad: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Saturday that the parliament would decide all major issues including the future of President Pervez Musharraf.

He told reporters in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, that the parliament as supreme institution of the country would sort out all matters.

He was asked whether the Pakistan Peoples Party would agree to the demand by its major coalition partner, the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), to impeach the beleaguered president.

Gilani said the PPP would not go on a solo flight and would take all its coalition partners to decide all issues in the parliament.

He said there were no differences between the PPP and PML-N over the latter's insistence on initiating impeachment proceedings against Musharraf.

Whenever the coalition has two-thirds majority in the parliament it would "sort the issue of the President," Gilani said.

He said the PPP had rendered unmatched sacrifices for the cause of democracy, revival of the 1973 constitution, supremacy of the parliament and rule of law in the country.

Amendments

Gilani pointed out that the slain PPP leader Benazir Bhutto's political sagacity had led to the doffing of uniform by Musharraf, who quite the top military post in November last year. The PPP has finalised a draft of proposed amendments to the constitution to clip the powers of the president, which its leadership says would be presented to the parliament after consultations with coalition partners.

To a question about the controversial Kalabagh dam project, Gilani said the PPP's stance had always been that it should be constructed with consensus of all the four provinces. The government said earlier this month the project was being shelved because of disagreements among the provinces over it.

Gilani noted that no government had started construction of Kalabagh dam during the last 60 years.

He said the government would focus on building small dams to meet the energy and water needs of the country.

Dialogue

To a question about Balochistan, Gilani said the people in the restive southern province had a "sense of deprivation" due to neglect in the past.

He said the government would resolve the problems in Balochistan through dialogue.

The prime minister said that PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari would soon call a conference of all parties in Balochistan.

He said some detained Baloch politicians including Sardar Akhtar Mengal had been freed and the government had stopped army operations in the province where the situation, he asserted, was gradually improving.