LAHORE - Punjab Governor Salman Taseer called on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday morning at his DHA residence here and discussed with him countrys current political situation besides taking him into confidence about his scheduled visit to the United States. As per sources, the Governor requested the PM to make sure by talking to the Punjab Chief Minister that the acting Governor, who would be Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana Muhammad Iqbal, will not sign any controversial file in his absence except disposing of routine official business. Salman Taseer is leaving for US on a 10-day semi-official visit on Tuesday (today). It merits mentioning here that it has happened many a times in the past that Acting Governor Rana Muhammad Iqbal would approve important summaries sent by Punjab Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, which Governor Taseer did not sign due to political reasons. Controversial appointments of Advocate General Punjab and provincial ombudsman are just two examples in this regard. In this background, at one time, Taseer requested President Zardari that Chief Justice of Lahore High Court should take oath as acting Governor in his absence instead of the Speaker Punjab Assembly. This arrangement, however, worked only for once, as after that, the judiciary took a principled decision that Chief Justice of any of the high courts would not be sworn in as acting Governors in future. Since then, Speaker Punjab Assembly is assuming charge of the acting Governor whenever Taseer is out of country. Gilani on this occasion reportedly told the Governor that after passage of the 18th Amendment by the Parliament, the responsibilities of provincial govts had increased manifold in respect of giving relief to the common man. The PM also told Taseer that due to the steps taken by the govt the relations among various State institutions had improved.