July 8, 2003	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 7,1424

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ABBOTTABAD, July 7: The Tehrik-i-Istiqlal has strongly condemned the Quetta massacre and held the Balochistan government responsible for it which, it said, had failed to protect the lives of its citizens in a series of terrorist strikes.

The party’s central chief Rehmat Khan Wardag told journalists after TI’s central executive committee meeting here on Sunday that the CEC took stock of the situation obtaining in the country, especially with regard to law and order, and the LFO question.

He said this impression was totally wrong that the LFO had become a part of the Constitution, as till the endorsement by the elected assemblies, it could not.

He demanded that all the ordinances passed by the previous setup should be routed through parliament.

Talking about the Quetta incident, Mr Wardag said it was the third such attack on the Fiqa Jafria followers, which could be very harmful for the country. The government should take concrete steps to maintain law and order, making it one of its key priorities.

The TI president said that sending of troops to Iraq and the question of Israel’s recognition be left for parliament to decide.

Referring to the ongoing tussle between the bar and the bench, he said the general public was losing confidence in the judiciary, an institution to which the common man turns for relief.

Mr Wardag said: ‘‘Our efforts should be to save parliament and the Constitution for which everyone must play his role, including the politicians.’’

He urged the MMA to play their key role as both the PPP and the PML(N) had failed to bring the public onto streets. He said the TI will join any movement launched by the MMA to protect the assemblies and the Constitution.

The TI committee also demanded reduction in govt employees’ retirement age from 60 to 55 and full benefits of five years, so that youth could be provided jobs. It also demanded implementation on the Water Accord of 1991.

The TI president was accompanied by Tassaddaq Baloch, Yaseen Azad, Muzaffar Hashmi, Malik Hamid Sarfraz, Farhad Ali Khan, and Abdur Rasheed Khan.