LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said his government is seriously implementing a 10-point reforms agenda given by the PML-N last month. Talking to reporters at his residence here on Sunday, he said performance would be among the major considerations in appointing new ministers after the dissolution of the federal cabinet.
In an effort to allay fears of employees of loss-making national corporations, he said the institutions would be restructured and not privatised.
The prime minister admitted that there was pressure from the US on the issue of Raymond Davis, an American citizen accused of killing two men in Lahore.
“We agreed to the 10-point agenda only after weighing all its aspects,” he said. He mentioned some measures taken to implement the agenda for which the PML-N has set a deadline of Feb 20.
“As some of the points require just administrative decisions, we can do it. Where there is need for legislation, we can at least move a bill in parliament, while reconstitution of the Election Commission is in the offing and talks on tabling a unanimous accountability bill are also making progress.”
Referring to the call for sacking corrupt ministers and reducing the cabinet’s size to 11 per cent of the parliamentary strength as enshrined in the law, he said removing anyone from the cabinet would not mean that the person in question had not been up to the mark.
The prime minister hinted at curtailing the perks and privileges of the ministers “to give a symbolic message to the masses that their government means business, although these perks do not cost the national exchequer much”.
Trying to dispel a perception that the MQM and JUI-F would not rejoin the cabinet, he said: “Altaf Hussain has convened a meeting of the coordination committee after talking to me, while Maulana Fazlur Rehman too has been consulted by me and President Asif Zardari at the Kashmir solidarity conference.”
Answering a question, he said a formal invitation would be extended to the PML-N to rejoin the cabinet only when it would appear that the response would be positive.
Prime Minister Gilani disowned a deadline set by his party for the Punjab government to implement a 19-point agenda for improving governance in the province. PPP’s representatives in the Punjab cabinet have said they will stage a sit-in outside the Punjab Assembly after the expiry of the ultimatum on Tuesday.
“Setting deadlines is not my policy. After all, we’re friends and not masters and petty differences between the coalition partners should be taken casually.”
The prime minister said the PPP and PML-N had agreed on restructuring the loss-making corporations instead of privatising them. “Their boards will be replaced and non-controversial persons with untainted careers and of world repute will be appointed to lead the corporations.”
He said progress had been made on improving the performance of the Pakistan Electric Power Company and a summary had been moved for the purpose.
Declining to comment on the sub judice matter of Davis, he admitted there was diplomatic pressure from the United States to release the accused. He said courts would decide the issue of immunity of the accused.
“In matters of national interest one must not play to the gallery, like some people have done by giving irresponsible statements,” he said and added that extreme caution should be exercised on sensitive issues.
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