HYDERABAD, Oct 4: The deputy convenor of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s co-ordination committee, Aftab Ahmed Sheikh, on Friday criticised the move to grant magisterial powers to army officers on election day.

He was speaking at a news conference at the local press club here on Friday evening and was accompanied by other Muttahida candidates.

Aftab said that he was not against the idea of summary trials but, he added, these powers should be given to the judiciary instead of the army officers.

Describing the change in Muttahida’s party structure, he said that the party’s supreme body - the co-ordination committee - now comprises 11 members from Pakistan and 11 members from the UK.

He said a Sindhi, Ali Ahmed Brohi, had also been elected as the member of the co-ordination committee, adding that a Punjabi, Iftikhar Randhawa, was looking after the party affairs in Punjab and the NWFP.

Shaikh, who himself is a candidate from NA-220 Hyderabad city, complained of interference in the election process.

He said that no authority had the right to confiscate public property without a legal justification.

Shaikh, highlighting the main features of the party’s manifesto, said that his party called for complete provincial autonomy besides formation of a new constituent assembly with equal members from all the four provinces to draft a new constitution.

He called for abolition of the concurrent list besides calling for transferring all its portfolios to the provinces.

He said that his party demanded implementation of the 1940 Resolution in letter and spirit.

The Muttahida leader also called for making the Lahore Resolution a substantive part of the constitution.

Shaikh also accused the Sindh governor of using his position and provincial resources in support of the “King’s party.”