JACOBABAD, Nov 26: Former speaker of National Assembly Illahi Bux Soomro has said that independence of judiciary and provincial autonomy are necessary for the integrity and survival of Pakistan.

Talking to this correspondent here on Friday, he said that to ensure supremacy of law and independence of judiciary, the tenure of the judges should be determined. He said it was an irony that legislative, an important organ of the state, was not independently functioning and in every sphere, there was a parallel system which had played havoc with the institutions.

He said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf lacked political acumen and during his rule, the country had lost two trusted friends, China and Iran, which showed wrong direction of foreign policy. However, Mr Soomro said that he supported a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue.

Answering a question about the need to buy sophisticated weapons from the USA, he said that all the resources should be used to improve living standard of the people, 75 per cent of whom had no access to potable water and 38 per cent lived below the poverty line. About the power devolution plan, he said that it had totally failed to achieve desired results.