HYDERABAD, Aug 29: Leader of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Syed Munawwar Hassan has accused the government of adopting delaying tactics, saying that it was trying to derail the talks, adding that the MMA was not inclined to wait indefinitely for the positive outcome of the talks.

The MMA leader, who is also the secretary-general of the Jamaat-i-Islami, said this while speaking at a press conference at the JI office here late Thursday night.

Syed Munawar Hassan, while expressing pessimism about the dialogue’s success, termed the Legal Framework Order illegal, unconstitutional, undemocratic and an anti-people document besides describing Gen Pervez Musharraf as being an unconstitutional president.

Despite the passage of 10 months since the holding of general elections, he said, power had not been transferred to the people.

The MMA, he said, had entered into a dialogue with the government as had been mandated by the people to restore the Constitution in letter and spirit as well as to ensure the Parliament’s supremacy.

Munawar Hassan reiterated that LFO was not part of the Constitution as it could only be amended in accordance with the procedure spelt out in the basic document itself.

Terming Gen Pervez Musharraf an unconstitutional chief of the army staff, the MMA leader said that the tenure of his office had expired and no extension had been granted to him by the competent authority.

The alliance’s leadership, Munawar hassan said, would launch a mass contact campaign if the ongoing dialogue between the government and the MMA collapsed, adding that the MMA would strive for the restoration of the Constitution.

Referring to the President’s Camp David visit during his US tour, Syed Hassan said that President Gen Musharraf should have rejected the conditional three-billion-dollar aid package. He reminded that the United Sates owed Pakistan an amount between Rs10 billion to 12 billion against the supply of F-16 fighter aircraft.

Accusing President Musharraf of having agreed to sending Pakistan army units to Iraq besides recognizing Israel, Munawar Hassan said that the policy of successive governments in the past 56 years had been consistent regarding the state of Israel, adding that the people would resist decisions to send troops to Iraq and legitimization of the Jewish state.

Criticizing the president’s stands on the greater Thal canal and the Kalabagh dam, the JI leader said that he (President Musharraf) was trying to create disharmony among the provinces and the federation, adding that only parliament was authorized to decide about issues related to the distribution of water.

Munawar Hassan also accused the president of trying to create a rift between the people and the army.

Criticizing the rapproachment efforts between Pakistan and India, the JI leader said that nothing short of the right to self-determination for the people of Kashmir would be acceptable.

Expressing concern over the lawlessness in Sindh, he said that extortion and killings had become the order of the day.

Describing the Sindh chief minister as being merely a puppet, he said that the Sindh governor was the one who was really in a commanding position in the province, adding that ironically even law and order meetings were being chaired by the Sindh governor.

Earlier, Syed Munawar Hassan also spoke on the occasion to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the founding of the party. Jamaat-i-Islami leaders Abdul Waheed Qureshi, Shaikh Shaukat Ali and others were also present on the occasion.