September 25, 2008	Thursday	Ramazan 24, 1429

LAHORE, Sept 24: PML-N Central Finance Secretary and former MNA Muhammad Pervez Malik has said the promise of sharing power with the masses shall be fulfilled.

According to a press release issued here on Wednesday, he said: “The process in this regard may be started by scraping the 17th Amendment.”

Referring to the challenges faced by the country, including the volatile situation in tribal areas, he said: "the country can be steered out of crisis by strengthening institutions."

He said the objective of independence of judiciary could not be achieved without restoring deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

Mr Malik said that President Zardari during his current visit to the US should boldly project Pakistan’s point of view on different issues, especially war on terror.

He said that Washington should clearly be told that violation of territorial integrity would not be tolerated at any cost.

The president should make the US leadership realize that politicians of Pakistan would never compromise on national interests.

Mr Malik said the president should present country’s clear and bold stance on important issues in his address to the UN General Assembly.

The international community would have to work together for alleviation of poverty and overcoming problems of ignorance and backwardness as hunger and economic deprivations foment extremism, he said.