MADINA : Parliament being the supreme constitutional body could remove President Pervez Musharraf, said Pakistan Peoples Party Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari here on Saturday.

He was speaking at a news conference, also covered by Saudi media, along with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani before departure for Jeddah where the Pakistani leaders would hold talks with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz for oil support and bilateral economic co-operation between the two countries. The PPP Co-Chairperson flew from Dubai on Friday to join the Prime Ministers delegation in Madina to be part of the talks with the Saudi King.

In reply to a question about Presidents remarks, during media briefing that he would not resign from his office, Zardari said that although he was not aware of such remarks from him, but the Parliament has the power to remove whether it is the President or Prime Minister.

About judges, he said that they could be restored through constitutional package. “The package could amend the constitution according to the will of the Parliament and the people of Pakistan, and the judges could be restored,” he said.

The Prime Minister said he held the dictatorship responsible for the prevailing crisis in the country because it never allowed democracy to flourish. “The democracy in Pakistan was always derailed by dictatorship. As a result, the country could never become a welfare state.” However, he vowed that his party would continue its struggle for real democracy.

“My party had suffered the most in the struggle for democracy” he said, expressing hope that his party would steer the country out of the crises under the guidance of Asif Ali Zardari. The Prime Minister said that peace and political stability were vital for economic development, and Pakistan would cooperate with any country, including the US, or that could help her eliminate the menace of terror that was threatening the country.

He said that war against terrorism was more of Pakistan than of any other state, “and we were playing the role of frontline state to bring about peace and stability in the country”.

On Iranian nuclear program, Gillani said that Pakistan supported the peaceful nuclear program of Tehran, but it was against any such program that could be detrimental to global peace and stability. He said that the purpose of his visit was to further enhance co-operation between the two countries in trade, agriculture and commerce. Business Recorder, 2008

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