RAWALPINDI: Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan on Thursday said all political parties should join hands and strengthen the parliamentary system.

He said steps were needed to run the system so that no one raises a finger at it. He said holding of transparent elections was necessary for democracy.

He stated this while addressing a ceremony organised by the Rawalpindi District Bar Association. District Bar Association President Sardar Manzar Bashir, retired Justice Qalb-i-Hassan Shah, member Pakistan Bar Council Basharatullah Khan, Vice Chairman Punjab Bar Council Asad Abbasi, member Punjab Bar Council Sajid Tanoli and a large number of lawyers werepresent.

The governor said the district bar Rawalpindi had supported him in difficult times. He said the 2008 election was as challenging one, but success was achieved due to the dynamic role of the district bar.

He stated that putting ideology first in difficult situations is politics. He said he grew up in Rawalpindi and always had a close relationship with the district bar. The governor said lawyers had made historic struggle for the rule of law.

He said PPP gives respect to its workers and gave a chance to rickshaw drivers, cyclists and those living in slums to become senators. `PPP made party worker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as the prime minister and me the governor of Punjab,` he said.

He said the PPP government formed in 2008 had to face repeated suo motu actions, which was a conspiracy against it.