LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has lifted a ban on recruitment in the federal government and assured provincial legislators of the People’s Party that they would get job quotas and funds for development projects.
The prime minister made the announcement at a meeting of the Punjab PPP’s parliamentary party at the Governor’s House on Saturday. The PPP MPAs complained that the provincial government was not giving them funds for development.
About 60 to 70 of a total of 108 PPP MPAs attended the meeting.
They also criticised the federal departments for not paying heed to their complaints. Some of them said they were not being issued licences for non-prohibited bore arms.
Two disgruntled PPP MPAs from Multan, Malik Abbas Raan and Dr Akhtar Malik, who had accused the prime minister of stopping their development funds for the last two years, did not attend the meeting. Last month they formed a forward bloc and started supporting former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in his campaign against the PPP-led government.
Announcing the lifting of ban on jobs in federal government departments, the prime minister said: “I assure you (MPAs) that the government will solve your problems and give you sufficient funds. Please submit your development schemes of up toRs40 million to the government immediately.”
He also announced arms licence quotas for MPAs and asked Interior Minister Rehman Malik to take immediate steps in this regard.
MEMOGATE: The prime minister said he had taken prompt action, summoned Husain Haqqani and asked him to resign as ambassador to the US so that a transparent investigation into the memo scandal could be carried out.
“The opposition’s allegations that the government is playing a delaying tactics over the issue are absolutely false and baseless.
We have also constituted a parliamentary committee to investigate the memogate scandal. So our immediate actions speak of our sincerity and seriousness towards this issue,” Mr Gilani said.
He said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had no justification in moving the Supreme Court after the government had taken serious steps to probe the scandal.
NATO ATTACK: The prime minister said the government had timely reacted to the Nato air strikes on Pakistani border posts by involving all major stakeholders, including the military. The government immediately called an emergent meeting of the cabinet, besides asking its defence committee to take a decision to deal with the issue.
Mr Gilani said the PML-N or those desiring to create differences between the army and PPP-led government should know well that the stance of civil and military leaders on various national issues was same. “I want to tell those hatching conspiracies against the government that they will always fail and the government will successfully complete its five years’ term.”
The prime minister said the government had categorically told the US that it would never compromise on sovereignty. “The government kept in view sentiments of the people while taking decisions after the Nato attack.”
Mr Gilani said the government didn’t want any confrontation with the judiciary and would always work for a stable democracy in the country. But all institutions should work under their constitutional limits, he added.
He said the PPP government would safeguard the country’s nuclear assets. “I tell you and others that the prime minister (not the president) is answerable to nation on all national issues,” he said, adding that the government was taking various steps to remove the sense of deprivation among the people in southern Punjab.