President Zardari: Parliament is supreme, has mandate to legislate

President Asif Ali Zardari

on Thursday said the president is part of parliament under the Constitution and he (as president) interacts and meets parliamentarians since parliament is his constituency. He added that no law barred the president from meeting his constituents. He also declared that he would not quit on the wishes of the conspirators and that parliament was sovereign and had the mandate to legislate. President Zardari said this while addressing a reception hosted by the Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah at the CM House here. Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was also present. It was a grand party meeting and members of the PPP central committee belonging to Sindh, federal and provincial ministers, members of the national and provincial assemblies, members of the PPP Sindh executive committee and executive committee members of all the districts were invited to attend the meeting. The president asked the party leaders and workers to fear no one, as he is the symbol of the federation while the PPP is the largest political party and believes in serving the people. President Zardari said he has nominated a PPP worker as prime minister of the country and it was his policy to selecthard working and dedicated workers to serve the nation and the people. He said parliament is sovereign and has the mandate to legislate while 1,500 elected members of the assemblies have elected him as president. The party, he said, is ready for elections, which will be held as per schedule. The president said he is the follower of the late ZA Bhutto and the PPP is a revolutionary party. He said anti-people forces were spending money for their projection in the media but they could not weaken the PPP. Zardari said some elements were trying to blackmail him like they blackmailed the late Benazir Bhutto but they will fail in their attempts. He said Bilawal Bhutto is now leading the party and he will soon actively participate in politics. He directed the party workers to start their election campaign and contact the masses. President Zardari declared that all political forces are with the PPP and claimed that Punjab, southern Punjab in particular, is the PPP’s bastion. He said the population of Karachi is 30 million and people from all over the country have come to the city. He said gangs of criminals also reside in this mega city and the government is trying to strengthen the police and the law enforcement agencies to control law and order. The president said that Karachi, being the hub of economic activity, is also suffering because of the fast changing situation at the international level.He told the workers that neither the PPP nor its leadership is weak and the party is bringing in new cadres for a better future. He concluded his speech with slogans of ‘Jeay Bhutto’ and ‘Pakistan Khappe’.Earlier Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah told the gathering that the PPP is not afraid of any long march and declared that party can launch a train march under the leadership of Asif Ali Zardari. Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Agha Siraj and others also spoke on the occasion and expressed full confidence in the leadership of President Asif Ali Zardari. Agencies add: The president said that for the stability and smoothness of the system, it was necessary that every state institution respected the mandate of other institutions. He said that in developing democracies some institutions might at times appear to be overstepping their mandate but this was part of the evolutionary process and should not be a matter of concern. The president said that the Pakistan People’s Party had pursued the politics of reconciliation and had always been taking along other political forces. He said no conspiracies or propaganda could weaken or deter the PPP from pursuing the people-oriented agenda. The president said, “Our detractors cannot even understand the basics of the philosophy of Quaid-e-Awam.” He has read and learnt the entire philosophy of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and has the courage to follow his path, he added. “I have lived in all those cells where Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was confined. I have seen him in my childhood and I still remember all of his speeches and whatever conspiracies were hatched against him,” the president said. He said that the conspiracies that were hatched against Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto are being hatched against him. The president said that those who wanted to restrict the political forces would not succeed. He asked the Sindh chief minister to create more employment opportunities in the province on an urgent basis as people were asking for jobs. The president said the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is a success story and has earned worldwide acclaim for its transparency and objectivity. He said he has advised the BISP chairperson to adopt an innovative approach to make the programme more effective.