Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday rejected the campaign against democracy and said the system was here to stay and get stronger and all such conspiracies would be foiled. Addressing a large Pakistani community at a local hotel where he was staying, Gilani said the people of Pakistan have always supported democracy and will continue to do so as they believe that it was the only thing that could provide them relief in the long term. He said those who tolerated dictators for nine years were now not willing to see the democratic system work, but vowed that conspiracies against democracy will be foiled. The prime minister said former President Musharraf was forced to doff his uniform when he came under pressure from the United States and the European countries. He said all political governments were packed in the name of ending corruption, but no dictator ever managed to eliminate corruption. Gilani also dismissed those who were critical of the parliament and said it was parliament that restored the Constitution of 1973 in its original form and brought in the 18th amendment showing great political maturity. Gilani said the parliament was not a rubber stamp. The prime minister was also critical of those who were against the National Reconciliation Ordinance and said no one questioned the creators of the NRO. He said the NRO was crafted against those who refused to bow before the dictators. Regarding the energy crisis, he said though there was no quick fix, yet the government was working on short, medium and long term projects to meet the shortfall. He said that the judges of the superior court were restored through his executive order. Gilani recalled that it was he who gave the order to release the judges from jail. He also referred to the shortage of 5,000 MW of electricity in India saying that there was load shedding in Bangladesh and Nepal but no one there criticize the government on this issue. The event was attended by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Syed Sumsan Ali Bukhari and parliamentarians.
