July 2, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 1,1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 1: The opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly and president of People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP), Punjab, Qasim Zia, has said Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is a powerless chief minister as ‘strings of the puppet government’ are in the hands of someone else.

Speaking at the ‘Dialogue’ programme of National Press Club here on Tuesday, he said there was a dictatorial rule under the guise of democracy in the country.

He said through Legal Framework Order (LFO), one-man rule was being established, but the opposition parties would never allow it to happen. He said this country was founded by the Quaid-i-Azam, after great sacrifices rendered by the people of the sub-continent and not by army generals.

He announced that those PPP members who had joined Patriots would never be accepted in the party-fold in future. He said Faisal Saleh Hayat was issuing statements against the PPP only to ‘please his masters’.

Mr Qasim said people were ready to come out to streets and were waiting for a call from the opposition parties. He said the opposition parties were struggling for the rule of law and sovereignty of the parliament. He said if Gen Musharraf claimed that he was a reformist, then why was he afraid of going to the people. He said everybody knew about the fake referendum in which the people rejected his policies.

He criticized the role of National Accountability Bureau and said it was being used to victimize the opponents of Gen Musharraf.

On seeking dictation from outside, he said the PPP leaders were proud of getting guidance from Benazir Bhutto, the most popular leader of the country. It has been proved by the election results, in which despite all pre-poll and post-poll rigging, the PPP bagged maximum votes in the country. If the votes of combined opposition were added then it was evident that the people had rejected the ruling PML-Q. He said the masses would bring the popular leadership back to the country.

Mr Qasim said Benazir would come back and nobody could stop her, “however, every one knows that how judges have been bribed by extending their retirement ages”. There is no hope of getting justice from the judges who have taken oath under the PCO, he said. The PPP leader said the lawyers were playing a major role for the supremacy of law.

He also condemned the police action against Shahbaz Sharif’s family members. He said the government was targeting and harassing those women and children who had nothing to do with politics.

He said Gen Musharraf had accused the politicians of passing laws in the house without any debate and within no time, and what was happening now? Resolutions and laws are being passed in the assemblies after throwing opposition members out, he said.

On disqualification of an MMA MNA on the basis of his degree not equivalent to BA, Mr Qasim he said there were several members of the PML-Q who possessed fake degrees. Several cases are pending against them in various courts and tribunals, but these cases are not being heard, he added. “We even proposed to the chief minister to constitute a committee in the assembly to scrutinize degrees of elected MPAs, but he did not accept the proposal,” Mr Qasim said.

On PPP-PML(N) alliance despite the past bitterness, he said it was the greatness of Ms Bhutto that for the sake of real democracy, she had joined hands with those who had filed cases against her. It was Benazir Bhutto who made the PML-N a part of the ARD, he said, adding that the PPP would support every party and individual struggling for the sovereignty of parliament in the country.