LAHORE, June 26: ISI men and police officials of various districts are chasing each and every MNA, pressing them to hospitalize themselves or use some other tactics for abstaining the National Assembly session scheduled for June 28 for voting on the no-confidence motion against the speaker.

This was alleged by PML-N parliamentary leader Javed Hashmi while speaking at a seminar on Pakistan’s Future: Military or Civilian Government, here on Thursday.

PPP secretary general Jehangir Badr, PML-N’s Mushahidullah Khan, Khwaja Saad Rafiq, MMA’s Farid Piracha and Muhammad Mahdi of the Awami Qiadat Party, the organizer of the seminar, also spoke on the occasion.

The joint opposition in the National Assembly would again table a no-confidence motion against the speaker if it failed to get passed the previous one, Hashmi said.

He said the government had showed no trust in its MNAs by disallowing them to participate in the voting for no-confidence motion. “It fears that treasury members might also vote against the speaker.”

He said by giving an “unconstitutional” ruling the speaker had made himself controversial and the opposition would table a no-confidence motion against him whenever he would chair the NA session.

He said the joint opposition had agreed on one point agenda that no compromise would be made on (the supremacy of) parliament and a meeting of the ARD and the MMA in this regard was scheduled at his house in Islamabad on Friday (today).

Strongly criticizing army’s role in politics, he said the institution had failed in discharging its duties on borders and lost Kargil, Siachin, East Pakistan and Rann of Kachch one by one.

He said he had recently visited agriculture farms of Gen Pervez Musharraf, Gen Aziz Khan and Gen Mahmood in Bahawalpur where they had also got 13 acres of land each as lumberdars.

He said all these lands would be confiscated and the (forthcoming) democratic government would hold the generals and judges accountable.

He said the army had wasted 28 years of the nation and brought the civil society to the brink of disaster. He said Pakistan army’s generals were the most expensive in the world, even more than generals of the United States.

He said the Americans had invited Gen Musharraf to Camp David because they did not want to give formal protocol to a military dictator by inviting him to the White House.

Mr Badr said army rulers had polluted democracy for their vested interests. He said military governments all over the world had badly failed in solving problems of the people.

He said for the prosperity of the country, political parties would have to end polarization and ensure justice and equality in all spheres of life for the masses.

Mr Mahdi demanded immediate return of Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto and release of political prisoners, including Asif Ali Zardari.

He said Maj-Gen Sikandar Mirza had ousted the government of Feroze Khan Noon who had established the Atomic Energy Commission while corrupt practices in politics were introduced by Gen Ayub Khan.

Mr Piracha said it would be the last army government as the final match with the establishment was being played in assemblies.