KARACHI, Nov 15: Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami and Vice President of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, has reminded the government that it was running short of time in tabling in the National Assembly the amended LFO bill agreed upon between them.
“We expect that better sense will prevail and the government would move to implement the amended LFO to avoid launching of a massive nationwide movement by the opposition to unseat Gen Musharraf,” said the MMA leader.
Qazi Saheb was speaking at an Iftar party hosted by the JI, district East, on Saturday at Shahrah-i-Quaideen.
He revealed that the MMA central council, at its meeting in Karachi on Monday, would give the government a deadline. He further revealed that Gen Musharraf was reluctant to accept the proposed amendments to the LFO though the same were agreed upon in negotiations between the government and the MMA.
Declaring that no power, including the General, could reject a demand from the masses, Qazi Saheb said: “The MMA is striving for the restoration of the Constitution and supremacy of the parliament. The consensus draft of the LFO bill was prepared by Mr S. M. Zafar, who represented the government in the dialogue. We had just sought clarification of a few points.”
Insisting that Gen Musharraf would have to relinquish one of the two offices had has been holding, Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that the new draft allowed him to hold both the offices till a specific date. However, he added, the General had rejected the draft though he did not have the authority to do so.
“We have also offered that Gen Musharraf would be accepted as President if he won a vote of confidence from the electoral college.”
The MMA leader said that both the MMA and the government had agreed that all the suspended clauses of the Constitution would be restored by the end of 2004. These clauses included the one which disqualifies any government servant for an elected office, he added. This, he pointed out, would automatically separate the office of the president and the COAS.
“Only one individual is creating obstacles whose rule would not be acceptable to the people,” he remarked.
Criticizing Gen Musharraf’s policy of backing every US move, Qazi Saheb observed: “Those who are spilling blood in Muslim countries, are being backed by our rulers. The ulterior motives of these foreign forces have almost exposed to the world. Washington is bent upon maintaining its hegemony all over the world. It regards possession of nuclear arms as its sole right.”
Condemning the US policy, he indicated that while Washington was arming Israel with every kind of deadly weapons, it was tightening noose around Iran by forcing her to open up its all strategic and defence installations for inspection. Similarly, the US had also been subjecting Syria to threats.
He cautioned that these forces, led by the United States, still were not reconciled with the Pakistan’s nuclear programme.
“People are being advised to practise ‘moderate Islam’ which, according to the definition by Gen Perez Musharraf, is the brand acceptable to the US and is in accordance with the western culture.” But, he added, Islam has no brands.
