PESHAWAR, June 23: Muttahida Majli-i-Amal’s secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday advised the National Assembly speaker to resign before the opposition parties tabled their no- trust move and dislodged him.

“The speaker has lost his impartiality and become controversial after a ruling on the Legal Framework Order. He should leave his office in a respectable manner”, Maulana Fazl said while talking to journalists here at the Al Markaz Al Islami.

When asked if the opposition parties could muster sufficient votes to remove the speaker, he said that the opposition wanted to bring the speaker’s partiality on record. After a no- trust motion, the position of the speaker would become a disputed one, he added.

The MMA and other opposition parties, he said, were chalking out a strategy in this regard, adding that efforts were underway to win the support of maximum legislators to dislodge the incumbent speaker.

When asked to comment about the prevailing political atmosphere in the country, Maulana Fazl said that the situation was very fragile, adding that the country was faced with various internal and external threats.

Expressing concern over the insecurity of the country’s western borders, he said that they had become as vulnerable as the country’s eastern borders, putting the national security at stake.

Accusing the army of launching a joint operation with the US forces in the tribal areas along the Afghan border, he blamed the army generals for striking a deal with the US administration.

The US, Maulana Fazl said, had launched 57,000 air sorties using Pakistan’s airspace during its so-called war on terrorism in Afghanistan, adding that the Musharraf government had kept the nation in dark about the deal with America in this regard.

The nation, he said, paid a heavy price every time the army generals had made wrong decisions, adding that democracy could not flourish unless the army’s interference was stopped decisively.

Referring to the Centre-NWFP relations the MMA leader accused Gen Musharraf of issuing what he termed irresponsible statements to tarnish the provincial government’s image abroad to serve his personal interests, saying that the federal government had adopted an undemocratic attitude towards the Frontier government.

Earlier, the MMA’s supreme council met at the Jamaat-i- Islami’s provincial headquarters and discussed the political situation in the country.

Expressing solidarity with the NWFP government, the MMA’s supreme council lauded its public welfare efforts.

Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Samiul Haq, Prof. Sajid Mir, Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi and Maulana Fazlur Rehman attended the day-long meeting.