ISLAMABAD: A possible clash between executive and judiciary was averted on Friday when the latter showed some flexibility in its stance on the issue of transfer of senior bureaucrats and the former lauded the move.
A meeting of ‘chief executives’ and governors of provinces jointly presided over by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani “dispelled the notion propagated by some people of a clash among institutions and expressed satisfaction that there was no danger of any such clash”.
According to the president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar: “The meeting decided that parliament reflected the will of the people and was the mother of state institutions and, therefore, supreme.”
Two meetings of coalition partners held in the presidency on Thursday and Friday showed concerns of the government on the situation. By calling the meeting of ‘chief executives’, the presidency apparently gave a message that postings and transfers of senior government officers was the sole prerogative of the executive.
“The chief executives reiterated their resolve to ensure respect for all state institutions and to work in a spirit of harmony and within the parameters of trichotomy of power as enshrined in the Constitution,” the spokesman said.
The meeting was attended by the governors of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; the chief ministers of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan; the president-elect and prime minister of Azad Kashmir; Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz Ahmed; Senator Babar Awan and MNAs Rukhsana Bangash and Fauzia Habib.
According to sources, the meeting decided that the government would exercise restraint and would not annoy the judiciary by its actions.
The sources aid the content of Prime Minister Gilani’s speech planned for Monday on the floor of the National Assembly was being toned down and it would be quite different from the draft prepared earlier when the government had reportedly decided to disobey the Supreme Court’s orders regarding the transfer of Establishment Secretary Sohail Ahmed and Gilgit-Balitistan police chief Hussain Asghar.
The decision that the prime minister would address the assembly had been taken at a meeting of coalition partners on Thursday night.
The spokesman said the chief executives of provinces discussed the political situation and reaffirmed their resolve to ensure good governance, eliminate corruption and provide relief to people by addressing the problems of electricity shortage, price-hike and unemployment.
It was decided that strict measures would be taken to check price-hike and black-marketing during Ramazan.
The meeting reposed confidence in the leadership of President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani and the steps taken by them to strengthen parliament and state institutions.
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