PM Gilani offers to quit but stopped by colleagues
03 March, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Gilani offered his resignation on Wednesday afternoon after the assassination of Minister for Minorities Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti in the regular meeting of the federal cabinet, but he was stopped by his cabinet colleagues.
The prime minister, who was extremely emotional and perturbed on the killing of Shahbaz Bhatti in broad daylight in the federal capital’s populated area outside his mother’s house, offered his resignation in the closed door sitting of the cabinet. All the federal ministers got up and requested the prime minister not to take this action as it could result into further destabilisation of the country and serve the purpose of the enemies of Pakistan.
The stunning announcement came from Prime Minister Gilani in the wake of discussion when he asked for fixation of responsibility for the killing of a sitting federal minister in Islamabad. Prime Minister Gilani earlier paid rich tributes to the services of the late minister and two minutes silence was observed in the cabinet meeting for the departed soul. The prime minister asked all the officials to leave the meeting room before initiating open discussion about various aspects of the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti. He wanted to have the discussions closed door.
Highly placed sources in the federal cabinet told The News (a local newspaper) on condition of anonymity that Prime Minister Gilani, disregarding the security officials’ advice, left the PM House on hearing about firing on Bhatti to visit the Shifa Hospital where the injured minister was shifted after the attack. A visibly gloomy and poignant prime minister left the hospital in distress and returned to the PM Secretariat where the postponed meeting of the federal cabinet was held and it turned into a reference for the slain minister after putting the agenda of the meeting aside.
The prime minister was the first to pay tribute to the services of Shahbaz Bhatti after announcing his death formally. It was Prime Minister Gilani on whose intervention a bungalow was allotted to Shahbaz Bhatti in the fortified Ministers Colony last month and the minister had shifted half of his household to his new residence as he had planned to shift to his new residence tomorrow (Friday).
The ministers, including Babar Awan, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Rehman Malik, Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar and Dr Hafeez Shaikh, remembered the minister who became the victim of the bullets of the cruel assassins. The cabinet expressed the resolve to nab the killers and punish them on their heinous crime.
The sources said that Prime Minister Gilani, who turned silent out of grief after his initial observation, suddenly asked everybody to leave the meeting room other than the ministers. He got the doors closed and in the process of soul searching discussion, the ministers deliberated about the circumstances in which Shahbaz Bhatti was assassinated. “We must fix responsibility for the offence as whose negligence has showed us the day. The responsible head has to be rolled since it is our collective responsibility to find the culprits. If nobody is prepared to come forward, I am tendering my resignation and taking the responsibility for the same,” Prime Minister Gilani said in emotional and determined manner. All the ministers attending the cabinet meeting got up and started yelling “no no” prime minister. “It could ruin the whole system and it would be taken as victory of the adversaries of the country who are out to destabilise us,” they responded in one voice.
Prime Minister Gilani, who came to the Parliament House straight from the cabinet meeting, addressed the National Assembly and announced that the government would reach the killers of the minister and they would be punished accordingly. He announced to hold a comprehensive debate in the National Assembly about the incident. Prime Minister Gilani will also take part in the discussion today (Thursday) and the possibility of making a startling announcement by him at the culmination of the debate cannot be ruled out, the sources said. No comment was available from the Prime Minister’s House regarding the above developments till late evening Wednesday despite repeated requests by this scribe.
Courtesy: The News
(http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=4352&Cat=13&dt=3/3/2011)
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