Talking to journalists at the local airport on Sunday evening the Prime Minister said the donor agencies including IMF, World Bank and others have suggested that our economy cannot be strengthened unless the policy of subsidies is abolished.
He said the government wants to rehabilitate the economy and for this purpose some tariffs like electricity and duties on some others items need to be revised. The Prime Minister said as a consequence of subsidies the Wapda was rendered unable to pay its outstanding bills to PSO and other companies which rose to a hefty sum of Rs 64 billion.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said unpopular decisions are necessary to improve our economic health. He said it is but unavoidable to pass on the burden of subsidies from the national exchequer to the consumer. He said the Wapda's accumulated bills worth Rs 64 billion have been paid by the government so that the problem of loadshedding did not aggravate.
To a question he said Pakistan is fighting war against terrorism for its own because the government and the state are duty-bound to ensure the safety of life and property of every citizen.
The Prime Minister said "we are not fighting this war for the Americans or for any other power but for our own sake". He said Pakistanis are peace-loving people and the government is not against any segment. He said it is not against tribesmen or peaceful Taliban but it has to establish peace and writ of the government.
The Prime Minister made it clear that talks cannot be held with those elements who are killing innocent citizens, personnel of the law-enforcement agencies and even army personnel, who are defenders of the motherland. The Prime Minister, who had arrived here from Quetta to attend the wedding ceremony of Mian Amjad Chhijra's daughter, replying to a question on judges issue, said that the judges would be reinstated through Parliament on a proper time.
To another question about talks with PML-Q leadership he said politics is a day-to-day affair. He said in the post-Musharraf scenario the situation has turned quite different. He said "we do not want an atmosphere of confrontation but an atmosphere of rapprochement with all political elements".
Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said we were not against any individual but we wanted to change the system. Now a positive change is taking place, he observed.
To a question about investigations into Shaheed Benazir Bhutto's assassination, he said the National Assembly and the Senate passed resolutions in this regard and the government referred the matter to the United Nations accordingly. About the possible outcome of the presidential elections the Prime Minister said it is self-evident that if the PPP could win the PM seat why it could not win the President seat. He said the PPP and its allied parties enjoy the overall majority in the electoral college, so its nominee, the co-chairman Senator Asif Ali Zardari, is likely to win. To another question about the schedule of Presidential elections the Prime Minister said according to the Constitution the elections for the office of the President ought to be held within thirty days of the vacancy by the Election Commission of Pakistan.