KOHAT, July 28: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday that the opposition was trying to derail the PPP-led government before the next year's Senate elections but expressed the confidence that coalition partners would thwart any “conspiracy against democracy”.

He was addressing the foundation-stone laying ceremony of a bridge to be built on the Indus linking Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab at Khushalgarh. The bridge, to be built under the supervision of the National Highway Authority, is expected to be ready in two years and the estimated cost of Rs1.5 billion will be borne by Hungarian oil refiner Mol and the Oil and Gas Development Company.

“I have come to power through votes and support of the biggest political coalition in the history of the country. So any move by the opposition to remove this government will not succeed,” the prime minister said.

He said the opposition had been tested in the past and it had not been able to deliver. Therefore, he added, it cannot fool the masses again and come to power by indulging in mud-slinging and unconstructive criticism.

Mr Gilani asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to use the royalty and funds it was getting under the NFC award on large projects so that jobs were created and poverty ended.

He said the province was now getting Rs15 billion royalty a year for its resources which could be spent on development of the province and for benefit of its people. He said Kohat and Karak were fulfilling 8 per cent of the gas needs of the country.

He held out the assurance that the federal government would help the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa rebuild its capacity of law-enforcement and intelligence gathering as thousands of security personnel and civilians had lost their lives in the fight against terrorism.

He said Fata was an important part of the country and tribal people wanted a stable and strong Pakistan and had always fought gallantly against its enemies.

Mr Gilani said that provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan had been allowed to install power plants to overcome loadshedding and his government had added 1,000 mega watts of electricity to the national grid every year since it came to power.

He announced that gas would be supplied to Thall tehsil of Hangu district.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti said two hydroelectric projects would be launched soon, adding that the province had set up its own gas company.

He requested the prime minister to ensure that the Hungarian firm and the OGDCL honoured their promises with poor people of the area.

He said the bridge would boost economic activity in the region and help increase trade with Afghanistan through Kurram Agency.

People who gathered for the ceremony had to wait for over five hours in the open and they were baton-charged by police.

Security personnel had been deployed all along the 35km distance from Kohat to Khushalgarh, though the leaders arrived in three helicopters.