Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani brushed aside US and global concerns about the new Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Swat in a television interview on Monday.Regarding the concerns voiced by US Special Representative on Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke over the new law, Gilani said: "He does not need to worry too much about it. This is our country. We know the ground realities better than him. We know much better what kind of strategy should be evolved."
But he added that the regulation, which some call sharia law, was contingent to peace in the restive Swat valley. "If peace prevails, we would protect this regulation," the prime minister said, adding that the country's leadership was responsibly following a "home-ground strategy" on peace as approved by parliament.
Asked to comment on a statement by Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-Muhammadi leader Sufi Muhammad that the superior judiciary and democracy were un-Islamic, the prime minister said he did not want to comment on Sufi's "personal opinion".
"There are many people who do not believe in democracy...But we believe in the will of the masses, and the support of people is with us," he said.
Regarding MQM's apprehensions about the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, Gilani said, "We are trying to convince them."
"Time will tell whether it was in the interest of the country or not," he said.
Gilani said he had received the report of the parliamentary committee on national security and it would be placed before the cabinet to evolve a national policy on terrorism. "We are trying to convince them [United States] that drone attacks are against you. They are making our job and your job difficult," the prime minister said to a question. "This is our own war and we want to fight it in our own way, and you should help us if you really want to fight this menace," he said.