Daily Times

Former prime minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday said that the opposition would not topple the incumbent government, as it would collapse itself because of the U-turns, political instability, inconsistent policies and individualism.

Talking to journalists, Gilani said no conspiracy was being hatched against the government, and the Iftar dinner of opposition leaders was just a “continuity of the Charter of Democracy” that was signed by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

He said that the PPP was the only party that could convince the PML-N leadership and opposition leader Hamza Shahbaz for the creation of southern Punjab province. The main issue was the absence of political dialogue for the amendment to the constitution, he added. He suggested that the grievances of the PML-N should be given an attentive hearing, and they must be convinced, as creation of the province was the need of the hour.

Gilani said the PPP was the only party that had elected two prime ministers both from upper Punjab and southern Punjab. This was done to end political differences and to eliminate the grievances of south Punjab, he said. He said the growing trust deficit towards the government could only be curtailed by accepting the legitimate demands of the public.

The PPP leader said that when he was the prime minister, the Chinese premier told him that Pakistan was more in need of political stability rather than economic stability. “We are seeing this now that a politically weak government has completely failed to counter the economic challenges of the country,” he said.

Gilani said that the PPP during his tenure had separated the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from the control of the prime minister and put it under the Ministry of Law and Justice so that no democratic government would be blamed for political victimisation. He said that the step was taken to make the NAB a completely independent institution so that it could play a greater role in the development of Pakistan. “I am personally facing the cases of NAB against me. I appear in the court and will keep on appearing whenever demanded by the NAB for accountability,” Gilani said, adding that the NAB was working purely on merit without any political influence.