THERE was no edition of Dawn on the day on account of the Revolution Day holiday. Reproduced below are excerpts from president Ayub Khan’s speech on the occasion:

RAWALPINDI: In a broadcast to the nation, President Mohammad Ayub Khan spoke about the fifth anniversary of the Revolution:

“My dear countrymen, Assalmo-Alaikum.

“On this, the fifth anniversary of the Revolution, my thoughts turn naturally to the past and come back to the present …

“The parliamentary form of government was imposed upon us by the British to whom anything that was British was the best. In spite of the fact that the British government was there to support and bolster this system, it broke down frequently. In spite of safeguards … the parliamentary form of government broke down in a number of provinces, and the Constitution had to be suspended.

“And when foreign domination and support of the system disappeared with the attainment of independence, the parliamentary system broke down in almost all the provinces, one after the other…. The warnings of the past were clear, but we did not heed them. …The stakes involved, namely, the future of our people and our country, are so high that I would beseech all to make a dispassionate study of the lessons of the past and not to repeat a mistake which nearly brought us to the verge of ruin.

“There is nothing undemocratic in the presidential form of government. Some of the world’s most democratic countries have adopted it. It is nearest to the Islamic tradition …

“I shall not rest content until I see stability and prosperity well established in Pakistan.” — Agencies