ISLAMABAD, Aug 3 (APP)- Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday said the sovereignty of the parliament has been established for not validating the November 3, 2007 action of Pervez Musharraf which was appreciated by the Supreme Court. Addressing the National Assembly, he said the government did not support the unconstitutional acts of a General who under the garb of emergency virtually suspended the Constitution and sacked 60 judges of the superior courts and put them under house arrest. The apex court in its landmark judgment accredited the general elections, the government headed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the oath of office administered to the democratically elected President of Pakistan, as well as, all the four Provincial Assemblies and their governments. “The judgment of the Supreme Court would go a long way in strengthening the democratic institutions and block the way of any unconstitutional usurpation of the people’s rights of governance,” he said. The Supreme Court’s judgment, he added, declared 103 judges as no more judges of the superior courts, however, affirmed the judgement and other day to day working of the judges and courts on the defacto doctrine being in public interest and to avoid chaos and confusion. He said 37 Ordinances promulgated prior to November 3, 2007 are, however, required to be placed before the Parliament for confirmation. He said these Ordinances had been given permanency through the PCO by insertion of 270 AAA in the Constitution. “Thus the judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the supremacy of the Parliament and has given full credit to the stance of the present democratic government taken up before the apex court.” He said it was sequel to the stance of the federal government that the chauvinistic designs of adventurers have been blocked by revisiting the judgments validating the acts of usurpers. The code of conduct for judges has been amended notifying that any judge validating the unconstitutional acts of usurpers would also be liable for misconduct, he added. “It is heartening that facilitators would also be collaborators and disrupting the constitutional rule/ democratic dispensation in future would be punishable.”

He said the implementation of Supreme Court judgment has already started.

He said Mr. Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmani, who was one of the members of fourteen members bench rendering the judgment, has been sent back to the High Court of Sindh upon the advice of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and appointed its Chief Justice.  Mr. Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, he said, has been appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and administered oath today. He said 76 judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts have ceased to hold their offices sequel to the approval of the summary sent to the President of Pakistan in compliance of the judgment. The cases of such judges who were working on November 3, 2007 and had taken oath under PCO, are being sent to the Supreme Judicial Council under Article, 209 of the Constitution. He also mentioned that this is the first time the national exchequer has not been burdened with a single penny as is the case in high profile cases. He said during all the previous governments millions of rupees have been spent on engaging the private counsels with hefty fees. The Attorney General of Pakistan Sardar Latif Ahmad Khosa alone appeared on behalf of the Federation of Pakistan in these cases before the fourteen member bench of the Supreme Court without extra burden on the state. Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani also took the house into confidence on his visit to Sharm El-Sheikh where he attended the NAM summit and on the sidelines also met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “The summit outcome must not be viewed in a zero-sum perspective. This is a win-win for both sides, as the cause of peace in South Asia, has been advanced,” he added. He said he conveyed Pakistan’s desire to Dr. Manmohan Singh, for forward movement in Pakistan-India relations and emphasized that the only way forward was dialogue. “Pakistan had, from the outset, indicated to India, that we would have an open mind, and a constructive approach. We had made clear, our desire to discuss all issues, including terrorism, and to seek a resumption of the Composite Dialogue process,” he said. He said Pakistan’s approach on relations with India, is clear and consistent, supported by all stakeholders. “We want to have a friendly, cooperative and good-neighbourly relationship, based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual interest,” he added. Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan is cognizant of the need, for effectively addressing the issue of terrorism, which is a regional and global issue. “Pakistan has been the victim of terrorism. These matters were taken up firmly and squarely in our meeting in Sharm El Sheikh. We believe that no country—Pakistan, India, or Afghanistan—should allow their territory, to be used for terrorist purposes against any other.” He also stressed the importance to strictly adhere to the principles, of non-intervention and non-interference. He said it is important to resume the Composite Dialogue process, which made some progress in several areas in the past, and offers the promise of measured steps towards resolution of all outstanding issues, notably the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and also the waters issues. “It is our conviction that durable peace and stability in South Asia, can only be established, by making meaningful progress toward resolving the outstanding issues,” the Prime Minister said. He said he apprised Dr Manmohan of the national consensus in Pakistan, on moving toward normalization of relations with India, by settling all disputes and issues, particularly the Kashmir dispute and water issues. He said the Joint Statement issued after their meeting re-affirms Pakistan’s commitment, to bring the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks to justice. He said it also acknowledges, that terrorism is the main threat to both countries; and affirms the resolve to cooperate with each other to fight terrorism. The two countries, he said, also agreed to share real-time, credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threats. “I also expressed our serious concerns over Indian interference in Balochistan, and other areas of Pakistan,” he said. He said the Joint Statement underlines that action on terrorism should not be linked to the Composite Dialogue process, and these two matters should not be bracketed. He said they agreed that the real challenges are development and elimination of poverty and the two countries should work to eliminate these factors.