September 26, 2002	Thursday	Rajab 18, 1423

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KOHAT, Sept 25: Brushing aside the allegations of pre-poll rigging, Syed Iftikhar Hussain Gilani, senior vice president of Pakistan Muslim League (QA), has said that the government and some political parties have a common vision on a number of issues, therefore, the president has a strong “desire” to see them in the future parliament through fair and impartial elections.

Talking to a group of newsmen at his residence here on Wednesday, Mr Gilani said that the politicians have lost credibility among the masses because they never wanted to strengthen the institution of parliament and instead relied on non=political organizations just to let down the opponents.

“Nobody had the courage to bring any motion against the army meddling in politics although the constitution had all the provisions to facilitate the functioning of the house. It was their corruption which forced them to lean towards army for help and undermine the power of the parliament, he added.

The prime ministers always went for a patch-up through the military to settle political scores among themselves and invited them not to only interfere but grab power”, Mr Gilani observed.

He accused both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto of violating the rules of the game and making important decisions in their houses without consulting the cabinet and party members into confidence. “Both were power-hungry and running the country’s affairs as King or Queen,” he remarked.

Both of them blamed the army, he said, for interference and criticized the ISI political role when they were out of power or sitting in opposition, but never had the courage to consult the parliament, which was a supreme body to deal with such things. Moreover, the army was united, whereas the politicians were divided at all levels and played a very selfish role.

He said that he had a strong believe that President Musharraf would transfer the power to the elected parliament as soon as the speaker of the new assembly was elected.