KARACHI, Sept 7: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) has accused the government of dragging its feet from the commitment to hold free, fair and transparent elections and said the maltreatment and arrest of its leaders in Lahore and elsewhere was part of that two-pronged strategy.

Speaking at a news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday, Syed Munawar Hassan, secretary-general of Jamaat-i- Islami, a component of the MMA, said Saturday’s crackdown on political leaders to prevent them from mobilizing public support was a pre-poll rigging and hence deplorable.

Mr Hassan said the government was trying to force the parties, representing aspirations of the people, out of election process. In case it did not succeed, then the regime would run away from the process itself, he alleged.

Narrating the incident in Lahore, and blockade of various railway stations, he said it was a manifestation of the regime’s despotic methods and denial of fundamental rights to the people.

He said the MMA wanted to engage the military in a dialogue so that it reverted to its assigned responsibilities and true democracy is restored in the country. He believed that indulgence of the military in politics will not only pervert the Army but also politics.

Asked to elaborate, Mr Hassan said “Army is an institution. Dialogue takes place even with hijackers. Our country has also been hijacked and we hope the people will prevail”.

He said after the Supreme Court judgment in Zafar Ali Shah case, owing to the self-centred and anti-people amendments and constitutional package introduced by Gen Musharraf, people have lost confidence in his commitments.

Replying to a question he claimed that the MMA could turn the tables on the rulers but it was not doing so because that could lead to anarchy. “The ball is now in the court of Gen Musharraf who is playing a dangerous game,” he claimed.

He declared that the MMA would not boycott the elections and if not allowed to play on its own wicket it was prepared to play on the General’s wicket and force him to seek refuge in the US.

In response to a question on seat adjustments he said in NWFP and Balochistan the process was almost in the final stage and hoped that in Sindh and Punjab it would be over by Sept 15.