Gilani rejects rigging charges in Gilgit-Baltistan elections

ISLAMABAD Opposition parties Friday staged a token walkout from the National Assembly against rigging in Gilgit-Baltistan elections, however Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani rejected the accusations and said that it had become a common practice to allege rigging in every election. Speaking at the National Assembly, he said that the Government took every step to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and these elections were a huge success towards empowerment of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Gilgit-Baltistan is a part of Kashmir and we should not give the message that we are interfering there otherwise it would be difficult to differentiate between India and us PM Gilani said. He added that all political parties took part in these elections.
Talking about the Accountability Bill, the Prime Minister said that the Government had asked PML-N to give its suggestions for a comprehensive bill to ensure transparency in accountability. We want to bring the bill according to the Charter of Democracy, which would not be a discriminated one, Gillani said.
He stated that there was a minor difference between accountability and victimisation and the Government wanted to bring legislation that could eliminate victimisation. He said the government would respect the decisions of the courts in the NRO cases.
The Prime Minister further informed the House that a judicial inquiry into the incident of killing of an alleged suicide bomber would be ensured and the report of the Interior Ministry and its findings would be placed before the House.
Earlier, on a point of order, leader of the opposition Ch. Nisar Ali Khan demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident of killing of an alleged suicide bomber at a security picket in Islamabad a few days ago. He criticised the government for its silence on the newspaper reports regarding the killing. Chaudhary Nisar added that he was ensured that the Government would inform the House in this regard but nobody gave the details to the House. He asked the government to establish an independent accountability institution headed by not less than a judge of superior court to ensure transparent accountability in the country.
He said that the government was busy in backtracking on the bill. Is there any institution for accountability that will prosecute? Do not make fools out of people, Nisar said.
Talking about rigging in the Gilgit-Baltistan elections, opposition leader said that PPP has won the elections but democracy has lost. The way the Government organised elections is a joke with the people of the area, Nisar observed. He criticised the Government for appointing spokesman of the party Qamar Zaman Kaira as Governer Gilgit-Baltistan.
I am thankful to the Government that it allowed other political parties to win some seats in the elections, we protest and stage a token walk out, Nisar said.
Meanwhile, taking part in the debate on law and order, PML-Q MNA Amir Muqam said that the postings and transfers of police officials in the NWFP should be on merit as only capable personnel can handle the situation.
He said the government should work rising above political affiliations in this situation and adopt a joint strategy to overcome the menace of terrorism. The writ of the state in Swat has been established but the need of the hour is to maintain it, Muqam stressed.
He appreciated the initiative of introducing Local Police Force and said that it should be introduced in all districts as it would improve law and order and also provide job opportunities to people of the area.
Responding to a point of order, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that sixteen illegal stone crushers were working in Margalla Hills near Islamabad, whose installations would be closed down within two weeks.
Responding to a call attention notice moved regarding unabated stone quarrying in Margalla Hills, he said that the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICT) took over the charge of this area from the Punjab government in 1995 and cancelled thirty-one mining leases of stone crushers but sixteen crushers were still working illegally and show cause notices had been issued to them to stop their business.
Earlier Interior Minister Rehman Malik during question hour said that there was no presence of Blackwater in the country.
He said that no foreigner will be allowed to carry and display unlicensed weapons and security agencies have been instructed to take strict action against foreigners who were violating the law.
To another question, Malik informed the House that a total of 14,956 foreigners were deported from the country during the last five years from 1st January 2005 to 31st October 2009. Out of the total, 12,923 were Afghan and 526 were from Nigeria.