Pak PM vows to restore Constitution

Pakistan government will restore the Constitution, uphold the supremacy of the Parliament and ensure an independent judiciary, says Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani.

Pakistan government will restore the Constitution, uphold the supremacy of the Parliament and ensure an independent judiciary, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani said on Friday.

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"We would also carry forward the mission of upholding the supremacy of the Parliament," he said in a television message on the occasion of the death anniversary of Pakistan People's Party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, father of the slain former premier Benazir Bhutto.

Noting that Bhutto had given Pakistan a unanimous constitution and made it a nuclear power, he said, "We would restore the constitution, strengthen all the institutions and ensure provincial autonomy. We would come up to the expectations of the people.

"These expectations are that all institutions should be independent, judiciary should be independent and media should be free."

Gillani said Bhutto, who was a leader of international stature and a towering personality, was the name of "an ideology, a mission and a movement".

He said, "Today it is imperative upon us to fulfil his mission. It is our national obligation to protect the constitution which Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had given us as a sacred document."

The rule of the people was the dream of Bhutto and "we would establish the rule of the people in the country," he said. "We would promote the people's rule. Inshallah (god willing) we would represent the aspirations of the people and make this country stronger."

Bhutto, who was ousted by late Gen Zia-ul-Haq in a coup, was hanged by on this day in 1979 by the military regime.

The PPP has said it will pass a resolution in parliament to apologise to the nation for the "judicial murder" of Bhutto.