HYDERABAD: MMA insists on date for shedding uniform: Alliance not to go for power sharing
Bureau Report
HYDERABAD, Sept 7: The government should table the constitutional amendments bill in parliament and the president should announce a date for leaving the post of the chief of army staff.
Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal deputy general-secretary Liaquat Baloch said this while speaking at a news conference at the Jamaat-i-Islami office here on Sunday.
He said the MMA had not entered into negotiations with the government under any pressure and it was not interested in sharing power even if the talks succeeded.
He warned a countrywide movement will be launched against the government if it did not give up its adamant attitude on the issue of the Legal Framework Order and accept the supremacy of the Constitution.
Mr Baloch said the talks between the government and the MMA on the LFO had entered final phase and the constitutional advisory committee, appointed by Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, had finished its work and its recommendations would be submitted for consideration at a meeting of party leaders.
He urged the prime minister to convene the meeting without delay to finalize the constitutional amendments bill.
The Jamaat-i-Islami Naib Amir claimed that all the opposition parties supported the stand taken by the MMA on the LFO during the negotiations.
He said the only objective of the MMA was to restore the 1973 Constitution in its entirety and find out a solution to the constitutional crisis in parliament.
About provincial autonomy, the MMA leader said usurpation of provincial rights under the sixth schedule of the Constitution was tantamount to playing with the integrity of the country.
Referring to the prevailing situation in Sindh, Mr Baloch said the Sindh government had failed to deliver the goods and the tussle for power among component parties of the government had multiplied problems of the people.
He stressed the need for handing over the power to the party which was in majority in the Sindh Assembly.
He demanded that on the pattern of Karachi, Hyderabad should also be given a special development package.
Criticizing President Musharraf for raising the issue of constructing dams on the River Indus, the JI leader said the president was trying to create differences among the provinces.
He said the water issue was a national issue and it should not be politicized. He said although reservoirs were necessary for the country’s water requirements but there was a need for consensus among the provinces on the issue.
He also called for judicious distribution of water among the provinces.
Mr Baloch said the MMA would oppose the government move to send troops to Iraq and recognize Israel.
He said the people of Iraq and Afghanistan had already rejected the hegemony of the US and Pakistan should also bring about changes in its foreign policy. He said activities of the FBI in Pakistan posed a danger to the sovereignty of the country.
Answering a question, the JI leader said the opposition would continue its protest in parliament till the LFO issue was resolved.
He said Gen Musharraf should get himself elected as the president in accordance with the Constitution. He, however, said MMA parliamentarians would not vote for him in the election even if the ongoing talks between the government and the MMA proved successful.
He said there was no difference among Prime Minister Jamali, President Musharraf and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. He, however, said the final decision on the talks would be taken by the president.
