QUETTA, Oct 12: The government is ready to enter into a meaningful dialogue with anyone who stands for national development, especially in Balochistan, and believes in the writ of the law, according to federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Durrani.

He was speaking at an Iftar-dinner he hosted for local journalists on Thursday.

“We are ready to knock on every door and invite everyone to join us in moving towards development and progress,” he said, adding that the government had a single-point agenda under which it wanted to speedily develop the province.

He said the government had initiated dialogue in the past and would continue the process in future for promoting a democratic culture in the country.

He said that the government had decided to constitute an effective parliamentary committee on Balochistan to be headed by Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain. He said that more members would be inducted from all political parties so that

its recommendations could be implemented. He said that the government had earlier formed two sub-committees, one of them under Senator Mushahid Hussain, which had submitted its recommendations and the government had implemented 80 per cent of them. The other committee was yet to submit its suggestions, he added.

He said that the current domestic political situation was ‘calm and peaceful’ and urged opposition parties to realise that secret doors to power had been closed. “Now, governments could only be changed through vote, and people were enjoying this right,” Mr Durrani said.

He reiterated that elections would be held on schedule, he said that the next government would be formed by winning parties. He asserted that the elections would be free, fair and transparent as it was necessary for the government’s credibility and it would fulfil its responsibility.

The minister said that it was for the first time that opposition governments were being run smoothly in provinces, adding that during previous governments, such governments were not tolerated.

Mr Durrani said that people of all provinces, including Punjab, believed that Pakistan would be strengthened by giving more autonomy to provinces. “Pakistan’s stability and integrity lies in strong and stable provinces and not in a strong centre,” he said.

He said that President General Pervez Musharraf and his government had no personal agenda and they were sincerely working for the country’s development. “They have no intention of buying palaces abroad or open bank accounts in foreign countries to hide their black money,” Mr Durrani said.

He claimed that the government believed in freedom of expression in media and said that it had given a ‘free hand’ to the media and judiciary to make it clear that no one was above the law.

He said that if political parties really wanted to keep the army away from interfering in national politics, they ‘must recognise people’s right to change government,” he said, adding that not even the army institution would dare to think about overthrowing an elected government if the political parties behaved in a democratic way.