November 19, 2002	Tuesday	Ramazan 13, 1423

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PESHAWAR, Nov 18: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) nominee for the prime minister slot, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, has strongly denied that the religious bloc was holding any sort of talks with the PML-Q on the formation of a coalition government.

Speaking to newsmen on Monday at the residence of Haji Ghulam Ali, a JUI leader who secured his release in a NAB case on Sunday, Maulana Fazl said the MMA would contest at any cost for the prime ministership against the King’s party.

The PML-Q, he said, was opposed to all democratic norms on the issue of the Legal Framework Order and a uniformed president.

The Quaid League was neither ready to oppose Gen Pervez Musharraf being a uniformed president nor his unconstitutional acts, he added.

He said Elahi Bakhsh Soomro, who presided over the maiden NA session, had assured the House that they were taking oath under the 1973 Constitution. But the PML-Q was opposed to the speaker’s version, he added.

“We are opposed to the uniformed president. If he (Musharraf) sacrifices his uniform and seeks a fresh vote from parliament, the MMA could consider it”, he said.

He said that earlier the PML-Q had opposed the formation of the NSC, but now it had backed out of its previous stand.

He alleged that the present government had turned the House into a stable, and now the corrupt and absconder would form a pliant government at the Centre.