"Hard decisions" must to tackle challenges facing Pak: Zardari

Pakistan's new government will have to make "some hard decisions" as it grapples with challenges ranging from militancy to an energy crisis in order to strengthen democracy after the country's first peaceful transition of power, President Asif Ali Zardari said today.
"We need to take some hard decisions and without delay. Delaying decisions do not avoid problems. They only invite crises," Zardari said in his address to the first joint session of both houses of parliament after the May 11 general election.
While wishing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif luck, Zardari listed the problems confronting the new PML-N government.
"We are confronted with serious challenges. Economic hardships have caused pain. Power shortages, rising militancy and extremism have compounded economic woes. We have to find solutions to our problems," he said.

Describing militancy and terrorism as the "greatest threat" to Pakistan's national security, Zardari said "strong leadership" is needed to overcome the problem.
Asserting that Pakistan will not allow its soil to be used for terrorism directed against any other country, he called for a two-pronged approach combining dialogue and the use of force to tackle militancy.

"We are ready to make peace with those willing to give up violence. But we should also be ready to use force against those who challenge the writ of the state," he said.
To overcome the country's energy crisis, Zardari called for work on the Basha Dam and other projects using Thar coal to be stepped up.

Referring to insurgency-hit Balochistan, he said peace and reconciliation must receive high priority in that province.
"We need to address the issue of missing persons. A Commission on Missing Persons has already been set up. But a lot more needs to be done," he said.
Zardari stressed the need to expand programmes for poverty alleviation and empowering women.
"We need to further strengthen interfaith harmony. We need to take measures to prevent the misuse of the blasphemy law for settling personal and political scores," he added.
There is a need for a mechanism for "transparent accountability of all" that is "across the board and not selective" so that everyone is judged by the same yardstick, he said.

"We need to carry forward the fruits of democracy to the grass roots. We cannot afford confrontation. We need reconciliation," said Zardari, whose Pakistan Peoples Party was routed in the polls by the PML-N.
In an apparent reference to the strained relations between the PPP and the PML-N in past decades, Zardari said politicians "need to learn the truth about past mistakes in order not to repeat them".