PM Yousaf Raza Gilani ready to act even if it costs him his job

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has asked Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to defuse the current political situation and the PM is about to undo “all the wrongs” in a grand historic move to make his place in history. This is the gist of what PM Gilani told a group of senators during a private talk. He told them he wanted to “decisively deliver” in the present crisis even if he might have to lose his coveted post. “Prime ministers come and go, but what they do remains in the annals of history. I want to do something worthwhile to break the prevailing logjam,” an outgoing senator quoted Gilani as telling him.

He was sitting beside the prime minister at a meeting with outgoing Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro at Wednesday night’s dinner for the retiring senators at the Prime Minister’s House.

“What did Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani tell you to do?” the outspoken senator asked the prime minister. Gilani replied that the COAS expressed his concern over the prevailing situation and wanted him to defuse it.

“You should play your constitutional and legal role in calming down the situation,” General Kayani was quoted as telling the prime minister. “What is the solution?” Gilani asked another senator. “Shah Sahib, you should restore the Feb 25 position by reinstating Shahbaz Sharif as the Chief Minister, undo the disqualification of the Sharif brothers by the Supreme Court and sack Governor Salmaan Taseer,” the senator replied.

“The exit of the governor would take some time to materialise while the other things can be done without any major delay,” Gilani was quoted as assuring the lawmaker. Another senator said that the prime minister made it clear that he was not a “product or beneficiary of the NRO” (National Reconciliation Ordinance).

The parliamentarian said that the prime minister was conscious of the fact that Washington, London and some other powerful capitals wanted the political situation in Pakistan to stabilise and their representatives had communicated their concern to him and other top leaders of the country.

One senator suggested to the prime minister to use his legal and constitutional powers to resolve the confrontation-ridden situation or nothing would be left for the politicians to salvage.

In a chance encounter with PML-N MNA Abid Sher Ali in a corridor of the National Assembly on Wednesday, the prime minister sounded as if he was going to accept all the demands of the lawyers and opposition.

“Abid Sher, what do you want? You certainly don’t want Abdul Hameed Dogar as the chief justice. You want Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as the chief justice, you want the implementation of the Charter of Democracy, and you want lifting of governor’s rule. Will you be happy if all this is done?” the prime minister asked.

The MNA said that not only the PML-N, civil society and opposition parties would be satisfied but also the entire Pakistani nation would be happy if the steps were taken by the government.

“When contacted, an official spokesman told this correspondent that there was no doubt that the prime minister was making sincere and hectic efforts to do away with the crisis-like situation. Everybody has such a strong desire.”

He said that it was well known and the prime minister had also repeatedly publicly stated that he wanted political reconciliation. He added that this was what Gilani conveyed to the senators on Wednesday night as well