PM wants parliament to be allowed to run full term

Islamabad: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said yesterday that the current parliament should complete its five-year term in the interest of consolidating the democratic system in the country.

Speaking to the media here, the prime minister pointed out that not a single elected government in Pakistan had completed its tenure.

"It is in the interest of the nation and its future that the current National Assembly elected in February 2008 general election runs its full course," he said.

Gilani has previously said it was his prerogative as PM to decide when to call the next elections and that he would discuss the issue with political parties after the budget for the new fiscal year starting from July is passed by the parliament, likely in June.

The opposition parties are pressing for fresh elections during the current year, before the due time in early 2013 after the expiry of the five-year term of the PPP government.

Fair poll

The prime minister said the government wants absolutely free, fair and transparent elections under an independent election commission.

He reiterated his view that opponents of the government were hatching conspiracies to stall elections to the Senate due next month because they were afraid the ruling party and its allies would gain the upper hand in the upper house of the parliament as well.