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ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday he would accept only the decision of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) in the memo case and that he was ready to negotiate with opposition leader Mian Nawaz Sharif on all issues, including early general elections.
In an interview with a TV channel, the president said there was no confrontation between the government and the judiciary and army.
“I believe parliament is sovereign,” he said when asked whose decision would be accepted as memo investigations were being carried out simultaneously by parliament and the Supreme Court.
The president said the memo issue had been given undue media coverage and he had consulted some experts abroad to take legal action against Mansoor Ijaz, the main character in the scandal, but they had advised him that any such move would not be in the interest of the country.
Replying to a question about confrontation among national institutions, the president said he believed there was no confrontation but a process of evolution. “We have no confrontation with the judiciary and army.”
[“You think it’s a fight, I call it a part of evolution. It will evolve and will simmer down in due time,” Reuters quoted him as saying.]
About the three-year extension in service given to Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, he said: “Basically it’s a question of history.”
The president denied reports that his sister Faryal Talpur was going to launch an airline, Indus Airline, and said he would ask Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar to immediately cancel its licence. “My sister has fully devoted her life for politics. We don’t run airlines,” he said.
He said trial of former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf would have had a bad impact on the armed forces. “I did not want to demoralise my and your armed forces. The entire institution would be demoralised if a trial was conducted against Pervez Musharraf,” he said.
President Zardari dispelled a perception that national organisations like PIA, railways and Wapda were inching towards collapse. “Media thinks it is so but I don’t think so. These entities have only weakened.”
Answering a question about former Sindh home minister Zulfiqar Mirza, he recited the couplet: “Dekha jo teer kha kay kameengah ki taraf; anpay hi doston say mulaqat ho gai.”
SEAT ADJUSTMENT: An important coalition partners’ meeting chaired by the president decided that seat adjustment would be made by the parties for the coming Senate polls and dates for general elections and annual budget would be fixed after consultations to be held later.
“We have initiated a consultative process with our political partners and allies on creation of new provinces and Senate elections. “Appropriate legislative measures will soon be taken for creation of Seraiki province in consultation with coalition partners,” the president said, according to his spokesman Farhatullah Babar.
Sources said a decision about new provinces was not taken because the Awami National Party (ANP) opposed creation of Hazara province.
The coalition meeting was held to discuss important decisions taken by PPP’s core committee on Thursday, including Senate polls, creation of new provinces and by-elections for vacant seats in parliament.
Talking to this reporter, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Farooq Sartar said the coalition parties had agreed to contest the Senate elections on the basis of seat adjustment. “The president expressed the desire that the coalition partners should go for seat adjustment so that their representatives are elected unopposed.”
According to the sources, the option of holding early general elections, in October this year, was also discussed.
The MQM said at the meeting that it was prepared for early general elections.
However, the sources said, the ANP and Pakistan Muslim League-Q insisted that the elections should be held in March next year.
At a meeting with PPP leaders, the president said he saw no threat to democracy but the party would not disappoint the nation and people would find it fully prepared to face any eventuality with courage and determination.
According to the president’s spokesman, the meeting reiterated PPP’s commitment to continue to resist any attempt to undermine democracy and civil institutions.
