[deackatera]

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Sunday said he was willing to offer his son for a trial by the Supreme Court chief justice if the top judge was having difficulty in conducting a “fair trial” of his own son. The PM was talking to reporters at the State Guest House, Lahore. He abstained from commenting in detail on the Dr Arsalan Iftikhar case, only saying that “no political party can deny having friendly ties with real estate tycoon Malik Riaz and there must be something in him that all are his friends”.He further said his sons and family had been accused of corruption and had been facing investigations in agencies. “I have never demanded special treatment for my sons,” he added.Gilani also talked about national and international issues concerning the country, from NATO supply to load shedding. Commenting on Punjab CM’s act of setting up a camp office at Minar-e-Pakistan, he said, “I feel sorry for him,” adding that the Punjab government had contributed not even a single megawatt to the national power grid, while the PPP-led government had added 3,700MW.“The government is working on new power projects and work is underway on hydro, solar, wind and other alternative modes too,” he said. He also called the resolution tabled in the Punjab Assembly to create Bahawalpur and South Punjab province a “conspiracy”, which he said would be foiled when a bill would be “unanimously passed” in the National Assembly to create South Punjab province.
He also accused the PML-N of breaking the institutions, first the judiciary and then parliament, by presenting a “horse and cattle show” during the tabling of the budget in the NA.
The PM demanded party-based local governments polls, saying expatriates who contribute $12 billion annually should be given the right to vote and contest election. “The ANP has also announced holding local government elections on party basis because they are political people and have political struggle while those who run from jails are not politicians,” he said.