Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani termed the 18th Constitutional Amendment as the first step towards greater political stability and socio-economic progress, he said that it provides mechanism for addressing problems of the masses.Some critics in television programs and in media question as to how this amendment benefitted the common man. How their problems will curtail? I want to make it clear that these reforms provide mechanism for addressing problems of the masses, Gilani said in his monthly radio address on Friday.The prime minister said without a system no development was possible in the world, adding, if there is no system, mismanagement prevails, which is always bound to bring deterioration and not betterment in the situation.He said this is the reason that when Pakistan - after its creation - was faced with various challenges, the founder of nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah focused on constitution-making, as only the Constitution can provide mechanism for resolving issues and confronting challenges.And it is the first step towards political stability and socio-economic progress. In fact, the Constitution provides the foundation for a stable, developed and prosperous country and nation.The premier felicitated the nation on the restoration of 1973 Constitution through the 18th Amendment and said, We have purged the consensus 1973 Constitution from the ugly blots made during the dictatorial regimes.He said the credit for this achievement goes to the people of Pakistan who voted for the democratic forces in the February 2008 elections and sent them to the parliament.Gilani said he was fully conscious of the problems faced by the people due to energy shortage, adding, keeping in view this situation a national conference on energy was convened recently in Islamabad so as to find a solution of this critical issue.He said all the four chief ministers, minister for water and power, businessmen, industrialists, consumers representatives and other experts including IMF, the World Bank, ADB, the former and current Chairman WAPDA and minister for petroleum were invited to the conference and were asked to find a practical solution of the problem.The prime minister said as a consequence of this consultation, short-term, medium-term and long-term strategies have been formulated to curb the shortage of electricity in a way that not only the government was able to the formulate plans for increased production but also eliminate the unjust and unscheduled electricity loadshedding.He said in order to check unemployment and to ensure increased production it has been decided that all industrial units and agricultural tube-wells will be provided uninterrupted power supply for five days a week.Prime Minister Gilani also referred to the governments decisions such as closure of markets at 8.00 pm, two weekly holidays in all public sector institutions and the elimination of unscheduled load-shedding and said due to these measures a total of 1000 mega watt of electricity was saved.He also highlighted that increasing the production capacity of additional 1,000 MW required around four years and an investment of $1.5 billion, adding, but the government due to its effective strategy saved 1,000 MW in a few days, which helped control the problem to some extent.The prime minister said that power crisis is a national issue and its solution was not possible without joint efforts and cooperation by the whole nation. We are a living nation and we know how to face the crises. Our nation always emerged victorious in all tests, he maintained. The prime minister assured the nation that government was sincere and striving hard to resolve the power issue on permanent basis. He said that the PPP government had earlier increased the production capacity of electricity and now by the grace of Allah Almighty the government would again resolve the issue to steer the country out of the crisis.He expressed the hope that the people would support the governments initiative to save electricity.
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