KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari has said that parliament being the supreme institution in the country’s democratic set-up and having been elected by the people of the country has every right to continue legislating on all issues of public concern and welfare of the masses.

Addressing ministers, PPP legislators and divisional and district office-bearers at the Chief Minister’s House, he said it was everyone’s duty to accord parliament the respect it was entitled to.

The president said that being the real representative of the people the parliament was the supreme institution in a democratic set-up. He said the president was part of the parliament under the Constitution and he interacted and met parliamentarians because parliament and provincial assemblies were his constituency. He said that no law prevented a president from meeting his constituents.

The president said that for the stability and smooth functioning of the system, it was necessary that every state institution respected the mandate of other institution.

He said that the PPP had pursued the politics of reconciliation and had always worked in cooperation with other political forces.

He said over the past four decades the PPP had been fighting conspiracies hatched by anti-democratic forces.

Mr Zardari said that detractors employed every trick to mislead its workers but could not change the heart of PPP workers and Jiyalas.

He said that each worker of the party was a true follower of the philosophy of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who considered politics as worship and not merely a means to capture power.

Referring to the law and order situation in Karachi, the president underscored the need for equipping law-enforcement authorities and police with modern tools to fight criminals in an effective manner.

Earlier, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, MNA Qadir Patel and Begum Shagufta Jummani also spoke on the occasion.—APP