Pakistan News And Discussion-9

[Naresh]

<b>Further to Posts 118 on Dec 22 2006, 04:48 AM and 129 Today, Dec 23 3006, 12:41 AM :</b>

[center]<b><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>PM rules out five-day working week</span></b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo--> [/center]

<b>ISLAMABAD : The government has no plan to convert the six-day working week to five-day in the face of growing energy crisis.

“The speculation in this regard is absolutely baseless,” the prime minister on Friday told journalists here at the Prime Minister Secretariat during a Christmas reception. He said no such proposal was under consideration. “We wish to put up more efforts for the progress and development of the country. There is power gap in supply and demand during summers but we can handle it through load management but two weekly close days are out of question," he added.</b>

Replying a question about the Kashmir dispute, Shaukat Aziz said Pakistan has a principled stand on Kashmir, ie the issue should be resolved in accordance with the wishes of the people of Kashmir.

He, however, parried a query regarding the UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir. He was asked to comment on the validity of the UNSC resolutions and could Pakistan invoke them sometime later. “As I told you we want a just solution to the issue and wish to establish peace in Kashmir,” he said.

The prime minister told mediapersons that Pakistan and India are engaged in the composite dialogue process and back channel diplomacy. Shaukat Aziz told another questioner that he would be attending the funeral of the late Turkmenistan president, Saparmurat Niyazov, since Pakistan attaches great importance to its ties with the Central Asian states.

APP adds: The proposals, like demilitarisation, joint control and self-governance were being talked about as a basis for a peaceful and just solution to the Kashmir dispute and there was nothing new in Pakistan’s policy on the issue, the prime minister said.

“We have always been with the Kashmiris and will remain with them,” he added. He said that as the gap between demand and supply of electricity in the summer season increases, the government was taking measures to minimise this gap in the next summer through various means and Wapda and the KESC are working on it.

He said besides load-management during peak hours, the government as a temporary arrangement was also importing power generation equipment to reduce the demand-supply gap.

Responding to a question about Christmas, the prime minister said the present government took a bold decision to allow joint electorate to Christians while keeping their reserved seats in the assemblies intact. He said the decision was meant to create a conducive environment for minorities.

The prime minister said Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had clearly stated in his various speeches that the people of all faiths will be fully free to practice their religion in Pakistan. Islam gives the same message, he added

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->