The government may review the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 if peace is not restored in Swat, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday.Addressing the Pakistani community in Tokyo, he said the Nizam-e-Adl, and not sharia, had been imposed in Malakand division, a private TV channel reported. The president was in Japan to attend the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FODP) ministerial meeting and a donors' conference.
Zardari demanded that the international community extend emergency aid to Pakistan to steer it out of the present economic crisis, saying failure to do so would strengthen terrorists. He said the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government was engaging the global community to help them realise the gravity of the problems facing Pakistan. He said the country would be saved from various challenges, including economic and security concerns, through a policy of reconciliation and dialogue, APP reported. The president said the FODP initiative, launched by him in New York last year, was part of the engagement process. "As today's world has turned into a globe, no country can avoid the impact of any happening in any part," he added. He said there was a growing sense of realisation in the world of the problems faced by the Muslim world, adding that Muslim countries were trying their best to present the true image of Islam before the world to counter the image being portrayed by extremist elements. He said Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, brotherhood and harmony, and the people who are portraying it through aggression will face defeat.
He said the government of Pakistan was telling the world the majority of its people, including those in the Tribal Areas, were moderate and peace loving. "If the people in Wana vote for PPP candidates, it gives a message that if they cannot fight (with the militants) they can express their opinion by giving vote to moderate elements," he said.
Zardari said the PPP government wanted to strengthen Pakistan's institutions, alleviate poverty, and tackle all other challenges facing the country, adding the FODP ministerial meeting was expected to provide effective support from the international community for a democratic Pakistan. He also referred to the appointment of special envoys for Pakistan by major countries, saying it was a positive development and would help Pakistan get much needed support for development and progress. "Our spirits are high. We have never accepted defeat and will, God willing, take the country out of various challenges," he added.
The president arrived in Tokyo for a three-day official visit to attend the meeting of the FODP and the donors' conference being hosted by Japan. Senior officials of Japan's Ministry of External Affairs, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Pakistan's Ambassador in Japan Noor Muhammad, and Japan's envoy in Islamabad Chihiro Atsumi received him at the Haneda Airport. During his trip, the president would also meet the emperor of Japan.