Prime Minister Gilani vows to exhaust all means to fight against his conviction

Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani vowed to exhaust all means to have a fair trial, saying he would not be coerced into leaving office through unconstitutional means.

The defiant premier, who was convicted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the contempt charges, while speaking to the media persons observed, “I have no desire to stick to power, but I will take it to finality and exhaust all avenues”. The Constitution of Pakistan had explicitly spelt out ways to remove a chief executive r and no one can force him out, he added.

While replying about the stance taken by him about non-implementation of the court’s verdict and the subsequent conviction for contempt, Gilani said that all his decisions were in line with law of the land.

In his view, the president enjoyed immunity under Article 248 (1) and he only did what he thought according to the Constitution. He commented, “I took all decisions to the best of my abilities and in line with rules and procedures, and in good faith. I am proud that I fought for the Constitution of Pakistan”.

The Prime Minister was of the opinion that his coalition government enjoyed a two-thirds majority and its partners stood by it through thick and thin. He raised a question that why should he fear those who were against the Constitution of Pakistan.

Gilani said that he had the right to appeal, and then the case of his disqualification would go to the National Assembly Speaker and to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in the final phase.

He noted, “But we must also see what happened to the decision taken by the Election Commission against Waheeda Shah, who was disqualified, but the Sindh High Court stayed the decision”.

Dismissing the campaign launched against him by the PML-N, saying they were merely playing to the gallery and attempting to remove him from office. In his view, it should resign from assemblies and then launch a protest demonstration against him.

Gilani challenged, “If they are genuinely interested that I move out of the way, they should resign from assemblies and join Imran Khan and others. There is no other way”.

Replying to a query about any threat to this government from Rawalpindi, a reference to military intervention, the premier said there was now an atmosphere in the country that supported democracy and the people, the media and the international community all stood for a democratic setup.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=21828

Posted by Faisal Farooq on May 9 2012. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.