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Govt mulling relief for poor in budget: PM
Islamabad—Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has
said the government was considering relief for the poor in the
national budget due next month and doing its utmost to control the
food inflation. The Prime Minister also hoped that the present
energy crisis would ease by August and appealed to the people to
help implement a policy to save energy.
In an interview with a private news channel, telecast Thursday, he
said the government, which was sworn in late last month, had not
been able to deliver much as it was busy in budget preparation.
“We want to give people such relief - and there is an opportunity -
that can help poorest of the poor,” the Prime Minister said. The
budget for fiscal year 2008/09 is likely to be presented in the
first week of June.
On rising inflation, Prime Minister Gilani said the government was
making efforts to control oil and food prices. “We are trying to
control a situation of mismanagement which we have inherited,” the
Prime Minister said.
When asked about the spending on the Defence, Prime Minister Gilani
said, “there is a need to keep the conventional structure of war
strong and it cannot be lowered beyond a certain point.”
However he pointed that the defence budget was being channelised and
ultimately it would be routed through the Parliament.
Gilani pointed to the huge class differential in the country, where
a rich was very rich and poor was very poor, and the middle class
was almost non-existent. The government, he added, plans to
formulate a comprehensive policy that could produce middle class and
help alleviate poverty.
Gilani said the government was taking all possible steps to overcome
energy crisis, and recalled the policy in PPP’s second government in
1990s, that had attracted huge investment in power sector. “We
formed a policy for the IPPs (Independent Power Producers)...but we
were accused of nepotism and favouritism,” he said, adding that such
a development in the power sector was unprecedented in the country’s
history.
To make up for the power deficiency, Gilani said the government has
formulated a policy in consultation with all stakeholders, and
expressed the hope that with more water availability, the problem
would ease by August.
Answering a question, Prime Minister Gilani described political
stability and law and order as essential for the sustained economic
growth.
Responding to a question, Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan was
fighting the war on terror in its own interest and not for the
United States.
Prime Minister Gilani said there could be commonality of interests
in some areas but dispelled the impression that Pakistan was towing
a U.S. policy.
“Foreign policy of any country is not formulated against its
sovereignty, dignity and self-respect,” he added. He said the
country’s leader Benazir Bhutto was also killed in a terrorist
attack.
“If we are demanding UN probe into shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s killing
or fighting against terrorism, we are actually fighting our own
war.” When asked about the missile attack in a village in the Bajaur
tribal region, the Prime Minister strongly condemned it, saying it
was “wrong and unfair”.
“Many innocent people have been killed, and we condemn it.”
Gilani said the government was now pursuing a three-pronged
policy—political measures, administrative and socio-economic
opportunities—to counter terrorism, instead of solely pursuing the
military option.
“[Military] Forces should be kept in the background. If militants
decommission, we are ready to have dialogue with them,” Gilani said.
Prime Minister Gilani also spoke on the steps being considered by
the government to ensure supremacy of parliament.
“We have to revive the 1973 Constitution and ensure the supremacy of
parliament.”
Asked how Pakistan Peoples Party saw its relations with the
establishment, Gilani said; “We are not anti-establishment party,
but a pro-people party. We are working within the ambit of
constitution and in accordance with the aspirations of the people.”
He said the government has already given instructions to find the
missing persons.
He stressed the need for provincial autonomy and said his government
was sincerely committed to abolish the concurrent list. He said the
sense of deprivation of people of Balochistan needs to be addressed
through political dialogue.—APP
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