Pakistan's prosperity lies in following constitution

The prosperity of Pakistan lies in following the constitution, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani emphasised on Saturday, days after he accused army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the country's spy chief Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha of violating it.

"What I have learnt from my experience as a politician, mayor, speaker of the National Assembly, acting president and as the prime minister of Pakistan is that prosperity of Pakistan lies in following the Constitution," said Gilani in Lahore.

Gilani on Wednesday asserted his authority by dismissing defence secretary Naeem Khalid Lodhi, sparking a stand-off with the powerful military.

Gilani had also accused the army chief and Gen Shuja Pasha of violating the constitution by submitting their replies to the Supreme Court without government approval in the case of a memo sent to Washington that said President Zardari feared a military take-over following last year's killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The Inter-Services Public Relations, the military's media arm, took a serious view of Gilani's statement and warned "This has very serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences for the country."

Gilani on Friday said that compliance of the constitution was the only way forward for development, prosperity and integrity of the country while speaking at National Management College, reported Associated Press of Pakistan.

He said: "Our constitution envisages a federal republic within principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam."

"The government has achieved such uphill tasks as dealing with internal political instability, restoring the judiciary, (and) rebuilding foreign exchange reserves..."

The prime minister added: "We are determined to strengthen democratic values and institutions. There is freedom of expression, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly and freedom of association in the country..."

He went on to say that a lot of political activity was going on in the country and the people had now learned a lesson from history that democracy was not easy but it was the only viable option.

"Democracies are noisy, reflect power tussles and highlight internal conflicts, but it is only through democracy that we can work together to forge national unity," he observed.