Parliament is supreme institution: Kaira

Says statements of CJ, army chief not against each other

ISLAMABAD: The Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira, on Tuesday said it was encouraging to see that all the institutions were keeping the Constitution in high esteem.

He was asked to comment on the statements of Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry by reporters here at a function, after distributing certificates among students of various institutions working under the Wafaq-ul-Madaris.

The minister said that the statements of chief justice and army chief were not against each other. Kaira said the Constitution was marginalised by some actors of the past and now it was the basic reference for all the institutions.

To another question, he said that parliament was the supreme institution in the country as it represented the will of the people.“There is no doubt that the Supreme Court is the apex court in the country, but when we talk about the supreme institution, parliament is the supreme institution as per the Constitution,” he said.

“It is parliament which has the power to make, amend the Constitution. In fact, parliament is the mother of all institutions,” he added.The minister said the government, from the day one, was saying that all the institutions of the country should work in their constitutional domain. He said that institutions were not built in days and targeting institutions was not in the national interest. He said that the Pakistan People’s Party had a very bitter experience but it had never targeted any institution of the country.

Responding to a question, Kaira said that the government would take all possible steps to promote education in the country.Replying to another question, he said that there was no chance of a delay in the elections as the government and parliament had the credit for completion of five-year terms of the assemblies. He said that any delay in elections would undo the credit being earned by parliament and political parties.

He also said that in the presence of free media, an independent judiciary and vibrant civil society, no government could consider postponement of elections.Kaira said the media in the country was free and the government had no intention to curb it.

Meanwhile, addressing the participants of the second South Asian Youth Conference (SAYC) here, Kaira said that the government was determined to exterminate terrorism from the country. He said, “We will utilise all available resources to exterminate terrorism in order to ensure durable peace and sustainable development for the mutual benefit of the region.”The minister said wars and conflicts breed poverty and deprivation and it was important for the regional countries to resolve differences through dialogue and negotiations.

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