Parliament is supreme over all institutions: Zardari

President Asif Ali Zardari. —Reuters photo

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday that the Parliament is supreme over all other institutions, DawnNews reported.
A high level meeting was called at the Presidency after a second extension was issued to the government by the Supreme Court.
“The parliament is answerable to the aspirations of the people,” said President Zardari.

PPP, allies decide not to back off

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani chairing a meeting of coalition partners at the Presidency in Islamabad on Thursday. – Photo by APP

ISLAMABAD: Partners in the ruling coalition decided on Thursday to defend the ‘supremacy of parliament’ and not to back off on the crucial issue of the authority of the executive.
According to sources, the decision was taken at a meeting of leaders of the coalition parties at the presidency. It lasted for two and half hours and was jointly presided over by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Coming as it does against the background of a tough stance taken by the Supreme Court over non-compliance of its orders by the government, the decision may have serious implications for the future of national politics.
“The coalition decided that the government will not change its decision regarding the removal of Establishment Secretary Sohail Ahmed and will not transfer the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Gilgit-Baltistan, Hussain Asghar, to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the Haj scam, despite orders of the Supreme Court,” a senior politician who attended the meeting told this reporter. He didn’t want his name to be mentioned.
The coalition partners decided that Prime Minister Gilani would address the National Assembly on Monday and the president has summoned a session of the house.
“The speech of the prime minister will be polite but revealing and will give a message to the judiciary and other organs of the state that all institutions should work under their ambit and the legal and constitutional framework,” the sources said.
The decisions were taken after the Supreme Court had given 24 hours to the prime minister to submit his reply on the issue of relegating the secretary to the post of ‘officer on special duty’.
The prime minister will submit a reply that may not please the apex court,” the senior politician said.
The coalition partners said they were ready to pay any price, even sacrifice their government, but would not compromise on the supremacy of parliament and the Constitution.
A PPP leader said work on drafting the prime minister’s speech in the NA was taken up soon after the meeting ended.
The meeting decided that if the government demonstrated any flexibility at this stage, it would be responsible for any damage to democracy, democratic power and institutions.
The coalition partners were of the view that the judiciary should not interfere in the matters of the executive because the government had not created any hurdle in the appointment of 110 judges on the desire of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.
The president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the meeting was attended by Senator Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Senator Babar Awan, Senator Afrasiab Khattak, Senator Mohammad Zahid Khan, Senator Kalsoom Perveen, MNA Munir Khan Orakzai and MNA Noorul Haq Qadri.
The president briefed the coalition partners on his recent visits to Iran, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.
“The meeting also took stock of the current political and economic situation in the country,” the spokesman said.
The leaders expressed their views candidly on various critical issues and discussed what is being perceived as a new government-judiciary confrontation.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court gave 24 hours to the prime minister to restore the establishment secretary (Sohail Ahmed) who had on Tuesday issued a notification transferring Gilgit-Baltistan IG Hussain Asghar to the FIA to enable him to resume investigation of the Haj scam in which people close to the prime minister and other important people in the government are alleged to be involved.

Gas pipeline to reach border next year: Iran

A handout picture released by the official website of the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him (R) meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari in Tehran on July 16, 2011. – Photo by AFP

TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that Tehran was hopeful of completing its section of the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline by the end of next year.
“Construction of the pipeline to export Iranian gas to Pakistan is under way, and we hope it will reach the frontier by the end of 2012,” he said of the multi-billion-dollar project after a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari.
President Zardari, who arrived in Tehran on a day-long visit, held two rounds of talks with President Ahmadinejad — first delegation-level talks and then a one-on-one meeting.
The two leaders also reviewed progress on a proposal for the transmission of electricity from Iran to Balochistan.
They expressed confidence that joint efforts would prove helpful in countering terrorism, terming the menace a common enemy for the region and the world.
Mr Ahmadinejad said his country looked forward to a new era in relations with Pakistan.
“Iran is ready to reinforce its cooperation with Pakistan in every field,” the Iranian president said.
Mr Zardari said relations between the neighbours should be strengthened, and proposed that “trade between the two countries be conducted in local currency, and not the dollar, to curb smuggling”. He also proposed a bilateral free trade agreement.
The President said Pakistan was already in negotiations with Turkey, Sri Lanka and China for the currency swap arrangement.
He denounced “efforts by our enemies who seek to show that the Pakistan government is unstable by provoking trouble,” saying that those responsible would face justice.
President Zardari praised Iran’s constructive engagement in the trilateral process, recalling last month’s Pakistan-Iran-Afghanistan summit hosted by Tehran.
He urged the Iranian government to consider the creation of an integrated border management regime for tackling militancy and extremism. He said Pakistan and Iran had vital interests in stability and peace of the region.
Mr Zardari called for developing coordination between governments to curb narcotics and human trafficking in the region. He said Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan faced a common menace of drug trafficking and expressed the hope that a trilateral initiative would help counter the curse.
The President said Pakistan and Iran had the potential to undertake joint economic projects in Afghanistan to enhance connectivity, build infrastructure, rail and road links.
Mr Zardari said there was a need to raise bilateral trade to four billion dollars from one billion dollars. He called for working together to identify impediments to implementation of the Pakistan-Iran Preferential Trade Agreement, signed in 2006.
The Iranian president agreed to take full advantage of geo-strategic locations for “ushering in a new era of progress”.
About the Afghanistan issue, President Zardari said Pakistan supported the process initiated by President Hamid Karzai for reconciliation and peace. He said Pakistan supported a reconciliation process which must be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned, adding that Islamabad was ready to provide all possible assistance to Kabul in reconstruction efforts.
It was Mr Zardari’s second visit to Iran in less than a month. He visited Tehran last month to attend the counter-terrorism summit, on the sidelines of which the two countries and Afghanistan reached an agreement to augment cooperation in the fight against militancy.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Water and Power Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Petroleum Minister Dr Asim Hussain and presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar accompanied Mr Zardari.
KHAMENEI LAMBASTS US: Later Mr Zardari called on Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Fars news agency quoted Ayatollah Khamenei as telling the President: “The principal enemy of the Pakistani people and the unity of the country is the West, headed by the United States.”
Iranian officials have been vocal in their criticism of the prolonged US troop deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which are now set to be drawn down.—Agencies