ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday declared that parliament and the people would be taken on board about giving MFN status to India, saying that the final decision had not been taken as only the procedure had been initiated to move forward in this direction.
Speaking in the National Assembly, Gilani said that the government would do everything in the interest of the country and appreciated the statement of PML-N President Nawaz Sharif with regard to giving MFN status to the neighbouring country.
He advised the opposition to wait for the conclusion of the secretary-level talks between the two countries, currently underway to take a final decision.
Responding to opposition leader in National Assembly's criticism of the government for rendering the parliament ineffective, Gilani dispelled the impression, saying that this parliament had adopted massive legislative business in the shape of numerous amendments to restore the constitution.
He said that this parliament had also made the army and ISI accountable and brushed aside all notions of its redundancy.
He assured the opposition that the government wanted to keep the atmosphere of the House congenial and told it to bring up issues in the House to resolve them.
"Bring the electricity, gas and public sector enterprise issues one by one and it would make the whole cabinet sit in the House until some way out is found to these issues", Gilani said.
He also commended the resolve of the opposition to block any unconstitutional step to the present democratic dispensation. He called for cooperation between the government and opposition and held the view that resigning from the parliament would send a very bad signal.
The prime minister resolved to go to any extreme to save democracy and clarified that he never said anything about the completion of the prime minister's five-year period, but had referred to the completion of the tenure of parliament.
On Zulfiqar Mirza's allegations, Gilani categorically stated that Mirza was part of the PPP, which was like a family. "Whatever differences he has is the reflection of the beauty of democracy," Gilani remarked.
On the publication of an article in a foreign newspaper about a letter allegedly written by President Zardari, Gilani said that the government had already clarified it and had brought into doubt the credibility of the person who had written it.
He told the house that the Pakistani ambassador in the US had been summoned to explain the article.
Gilani also dispelled the impression of diplomatic isolation and said that the election of Pakistan as a member of UNO's Security Council depicted the country's diplomatic liveliness.
