By KUNA
Islamabad : Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani spelt out Saturday his government’s priorities as being the combat of terrorism, price hike, unemployment and poverty, setting up new power plants and, most significantly, revoking the Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR) in the bordering tribal region.
The premier, speaking at the National Assembly after obtaining a vote of confidence, said that maintaining law and order in the country would be the top priority of his government, stressing that terrorism needed to be rooted out.
“We are ready to talk to all those who are ready to lay-down their arms and wanted peace,” he said, adding that he would announce a special package for tribal areas, offering them employment and bringing then out of backwardness.
He also announced the revoking of FCR, which dated back to the British colonial period in pre-partition India. It forms the bulwark of the government machinery in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan and its special laws are applied to administer justice in matters relating to interest of the state and public order.
The premier welcomed the announcement of the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) that all army personnel from the civil departments would be called back while expressing hope that it would be done within two weeks.
He added that his government would take steps to restore judges deposed during President Pervez Musharraf’s proclaimed emergency rule. As a first step, these judges have already been freed from detention.
He said a Madrassah Welfare Authority (MWA) would be set up to audit accounts of all Madrassahs (religious seminaries) in the country. The authority will be responsible for ensuring that curricula of all Madrassahs are uniform.
Pakistan’s Madrassahs are known as breeding grounds of extremists and terrorists.
Previously, the pro-Musharraf government tried to bring them under control and launched a registration campaign but the policy failed to bring results.