November 29, 2002	Friday	Ramazan 23, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: The MMA parliamentary leader in the National Assembly, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, has said that a democratic government cannot be run with the support of weak crutches and demanded of President Gen Musharraf to withdraw his illegal and unconstitutional actions to give the real democracy a chance.

He was speaking to lawyers and jurists at a gathering held under the auspices of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Rawalpindi Bench, on Thursday.

PML-N deputy parliamentary leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Sartaj Aziz, MMA deputy secretary-general Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Ahsan Iqbal, Akram Zaki, PPP MNA Dr Sher Afghan Niazi and LHCBA president Chaudhry Ikram also spoke on the occasion.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed reaffirmed the resolve of the religio- political alliance not to let the Jamali-led coalition government collapse despite withdrawal of its partners support.

He strongly condemned the postponement of Sindh Assembly session on the demand of a leader and described it an excess with the province which, he added, should be resented by all and sundry for it may tantamount to deepening the regional conflict.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the military establishment used to criticize the PML government when it entered into a coalition with the MQM accusing the party as a bunch of secessionist forces working to establish Jinnahabad but they (army) themselves were doing the same thing but no one dared to question.

The PML-N leader said that the public opinion was still far from sensing the real dangers of army’s extensive role in running the administration which had destroyed all the institutions including judiciary.

“The day the people realize the gravity of the situation and rise up against it, every institution including the judiciary will start working and pull the nation out of the quagmire” he said.

He said that attributing the whole mess to the Supreme Court would not be correct as every organ of the country, if it had any influence, was exploited for the wrong doings and misused for the vested interests.

Mr Khan said: “We are not against the army if it keeps itself confined to its constitutional role but its involvement in the political gambit do create misgivings, which was the domain of politicians.”

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said that every military dictator, from Ayub Khan to Gen Musharraf, had used the PML for serving their objectives under different names as convention league, Nawaz league and at present Quaid-i-Azam league.

Sher Afgan Niazi said that it was unfortunate for the country that a grade 22 officer of the army not only uprooted an elected government but also arrested the elected prime minister.

He alleged that no court including the Supreme Court “exists in the country” and “what we are witnessing are the buildings full of furniture”.