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Islamabad: Conspiracies are being hatched to oust the elected Pakistani
government from power, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said
Thursday, insisting that "nobody is above the law" and all
institutions in the country are "subservient to parliament".
"There cannot be a state within a state. Nobody can say that he is
not under the government," Gilani said.
He said: "Conspiracies are being hatched to pack up an elected
government."
He was addressing a gathering at a photo expo here of the Father
of the Nation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Geo TV reported.
"Nobody is above the law, all the institutions are subservient to
parliament," he said.
Earlier, in the National Assembly, he reaffirmed the supremacy of
parliament.
"Every institution of this country, including the ministry of
defence, is under the prime minister of Pakistan.
"We have the highest respect and regard for the army as they have
stood firmly against the terrorists.
"If they say they are not under the ministry of defence, then we
should get out of this slavery, then this parliament has no
importance, this system has no importance, then you are not
sovereign," he said in the National Assembly.
Nobody should claim himself as independent (of the government), he
said.
"They are being paid from the state exchequer, from your revenue
and from your taxes.
"If somebody thinks that they are not under the government, they
are mistaken. They are under the government and they remain under
the government, because we are the elected representatives of the
people of Pakistan," Gilani said.
"All state institutions acquire their powers from parliament."
He said the government has stood by the security forces during
crisis situations like the killing of Osama bin Laden, the Nov 26
NATO attack and the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.
"In the worst circumstances, we doubled their salaries. They have
to be accountable to parliament."
"We are being asked by the judicial commission (examining the May
2 US raid that killed Osama) about issuance of visas (to
Americans).
"But I want to ask how was (bin Laden) living here for the past
six years? On what type of visa was he living here? Why was
security not taken care of," Geo TV quoted Gilani as saying.
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