October 19, 2002	Saturday	Sha'aban 12, 1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

ISLAMABAD, Oct 18: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy on Friday decided not to form a coalition with any political party supporting the military regime and called for a fresh presidential election.

The formation of a government of national consensus with parties having some fundamental differences with parties comprising the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy is out of the question, ARD chief Nawabzada Nasruallah Khan told a press conference.

The ARD will not form a coalition government with those supporting Gen Pervez Musharraf’s assumption of the office of president as a result of a “fraudulent” referendum election, he added.

The ARD decision, which Nasrullah Khan said was taken unanimously by the alliance parties at a meeting on Thursday night, follows several meetings Makhdoom Amin Fahim, leader of People’s Party Parliamentarians, had with the leaders of both pro-government and oppo-sition parties in search of a government of national consensus.

The restoration of the 1973 Constitution was the main plank on which the ARD had been formed, the veteran politician recalled, and said the alliance would continue its struggle to achieve the same objective.

He said the military regime had changed the entire complexion of the 1973 Constitution by “innumerable amendments”.

He recalled that an “all-parties conference” convened by the ARD earlier this year and also participated by the representatives of lawyers and religious organizaton besides the mainstream political parties had rejected the constitutional amendments made by the Musharraf government.

As regards the ARD’s demand for a fresh election to the office of president, he said the procedure laid down in the Constitution — providing for an electoral college of the National Assembly, the Senate and four provincial assemblies — should be followed.

Asked about Makhdoom Amin Fahim’s projected talks with the PML(Q) leaders, Nawabzada Nasrullah said there was no bar on meeting anybody.

The PML(Q) is not a party supporting the government but “their own creation”, Nawabzada said.

Reiterating the allegations of large-scale rigging, he said the focus had been on Punjab province that constituted almost 62 per cent of the country’s total population.

Almost 50 per cent of the work was done in pre-poll rigging and the remaining was accomplished through rigging on the polling day, he added.

He demanded immediate release of all political prisoners, including Asif Ali Zardari and PML(N) acting president Javed Hashmi. Blasting the military government’s accountability drive, he said it had been used to settle personal scores and political vendetta.