(AKI) - Pakistani prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani said on Tuesday that the country's controversial National Security Council would be abolished. Gillani said that the NSC was set up by former president Pervez Musharraf and was opposed by both the major parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League. "I have decided to abolish the National Security Council and legislation will be introduced for this purpose," he said on Tuesday. The prime minister said both he and president Asif Ali Zardari had agreed in principle to dissolve the NSC and a bill would be presented to the parliament for its abolition.
Gillani said the security council was not answerable to the government whereas the prime minister, ministers and state ministers were answerable to the parliament. "We opposed the establishment of the National Security Council. The leader of the opposition at that time, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, never attended its meetings. We are against all dictatorial powers," Gillani said.
The NSC is a consultative body chaired by Pakistan's president and serves as a forum for consultation with the president and the federal government on matters of national security including the sovereignty, integrity, defence, and security of the state.