Gilani: By-elections only if opposition resigns

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said that the government could hold by-elections in the country if the opposition decided to resign from the federal or provincial assemblies, local media reports said on Thursday. According to reports, the prime minister made the remarks in Karachi where he was holding a meeting with his coalition partners, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). Gilani has rubbished speculations about a change of government by unconstitutional means or formation of a national government. He said people would not accept any extra-constitutional or quasi-parliamentary step to unsettle the democratic dispensation because they did not want a repetition of the politics of the 80s and 90s. Gilani added that people of Pakistan have suffered a lot at the hands of non-democratic forces. Gilani’s comments appeared to refer (not by name) to the reports that the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) was trying to pressure the government into calling early elections and planned on using mass resignations from the National Assembly – and possibly even dissolving the Punjab Assembly. The Prime Minister said that the democratic government was fully cognizant of these difficulties and was taking appropriate steps to overcome all such problems to facilitate the undertaking of businesses in the country.