September 29, 2007	Saturday	Ramazan 16, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has welcomed the Friday’s judgment of the Supreme Court and said: “The entire nation must accept this verdict and the parties (opposition) who feel disappointed should show enough courage to accept it as the justice demands”.

Addressing a news conference at the PM House here on Friday, the prime minister also categorically rejected as baseless a newspaper report that government agencies had pressurised a judge of the nine-member SC bench to give judgment in favour of the president.

He was responding to a question about a report in an English language newspaper saying that family members of a judge were harassed by agencies. He said he had felt relieved to some extent after the same paper published a clarification.

Making the government’s intentions clear about tackling the situation on Saturday when presidential nomination papers would be scrutinised by the Election Commission, Mr Aziz said: “The government was alive to protect the rights of people and would not allow anyone to take the law in his own hands”.

Answering a question about his government’s strategy after the apex court’s directive that no road should be blocked to impede movement of people on the Constitution Avenue, he said: “Let it be clear that the government was duty-bound to ensure law and order and nobody would be allowed to disturb it at any cost”.

He said the president had committed before the Supreme Court that he would doff his army uniform after his re-election.

Answering a question about the decision of the All Parties Democratic Movement regarding dissolution of the NWFP assembly to block the presidential election, the prime minister described reports of a no-confidence motion being contemplated by the ruling PML as mere speculation.

Replying to another question, he said that the ruling coalition had enough votes to re-elect President Musharraf and it would not seek support from any other party, including the PPP.

He, however, said: “In my opinion any attempt to prevent the legislators from using their right to vote will be an unwise and undemocratic act”.

The prime minister parried a question about deportation of PML-N leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

When his attention was drawn to a notice issued by the Supreme Court to 13 senior officials, including himself, in a contempt of court case on Sharif’s deportation, Mr Aziz said: “I will not make a comment as the petition is pending before the apex court”.

Responding to a question about PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s statement concerning Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the prime minister said: “Nuclear programme is the most important national asset which is also our deterrent on which we are not going to compromise or allow any world body access to Dr. Khan”.

He said: “Pakistan is capable of investigating if a need arises and we will cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency as in the past, but will never allow anyone to interrogate our scientists”.