Pakistan PM fears his ouster
December 22nd, 2011 - 8:52 pm ICT by IANS
Islamabad, Dec 22 (IANS) Conspiracies are being hatched to oust the elected Pakistani government from power, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Thursday, insisting that “nobody is above the law” and all institutions in the country are “subservient to parliament”.
“There cannot be a state within a state. Nobody can say that he is not under the government,” Gilani said.
He said: “Conspiracies are being hatched to pack up an elected government.”
He was addressing a gathering at a photo expo here of the Father of the Nation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Geo TV reported.
“Nobody is above the law, all the institutions are subservient to parliament,” he said.
Earlier, in the National Assembly, he reaffirmed the supremacy of parliament.
“Every institution of this country, including the ministry of defence, is under the prime minister of Pakistan.
“We have the highest respect and regard for the army as they have stood firmly against the terrorists.
“If they say they are not under the ministry of defence, then we should get out of this slavery, then this parliament has no importance, this system has no importance, then you are not sovereign,” he said in the National Assembly.
Nobody should claim himself as independent (of the government), he said.
“They are being paid from the state exchequer, from your revenue and from your taxes.
“If somebody thinks that they are not under the government, they are mistaken. They are under the government and they remain under the government, because we are the elected representatives of the people of Pakistan,” Gilani said.
“All state institutions acquire their powers from parliament.”
He said the government has stood by the security forces during crisis situations like the killing of Osama bin Laden, the Nov 26 NATO attack and the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.
“In the worst circumstances, we doubled their salaries. They have to be accountable to parliament.”
“We are being asked by the judicial commission (examining the May 2 US raid that killed Osama) about issuance of visas (to Americans).
“But I want to ask how was (bin Laden) living here for the past six years? On what type of visa was he living here? Why was security not taken care of,” Geo TV quoted Gilani as saying.
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- Gilani sacks defence secretary, takes on army (Intro Night Lead) - Jan 12, 2012
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Tags: conspiracies, crisis situations, geo tv, gilani, judicial commission, ministry of defence, mohammad ali jinnah, national assembly, nato attack, ouster, pakistani government, photo expo, prime minister of pakistan, raza, security forces, state exchequer, state institutions, supremacy of parliament, terror attacks, yousuf