Multan: PPP leader and former prime minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani said on Monday that the secret of country’s progress lay in supremacy of the constitution. Speaking to newsmen in Multan, he regretted he had been disqualified by the Supreme Court despite the fact that he enjoyed the support of all parties in the parliament.

He said he was surprised as to why PTI leader and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had fielded his daughter as a candidate in the by-election on a National Assembly (NA) seat. Gillani claimed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was an autonomous and an independent body.

He accused the Punjab government of pressuring the commissioner and deputy commissioner of Multan ahead of by-election. “The commissioner has applied for leaves only because he could not withstand the pressure,” he said, and asked the ECP to take notice of the situation.