SUKKUR, Nov 30: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leader MNA Liaquat Baloch has reiterated that the alliance will launch a movement against the government if it does not present the agreed constitutional amendment package in parliament before Dec 18.

He was talking to journalists at the Sukkur Airport before leaving for Lahore on Saturday.

The MMA leader said his party believed in the supremacy of parliament and the Constitution.

“With this in mind, we have made efforts to make the 10-month talks a success”, said Mr Baloch who was a member of the MMA team for negotiations with the government on the Legal Framework Order issue.

He said the government had been trying to escape from talks with the MMA.

Mr Baloch said the MMA leaders would meet on Dec 9 to review the future course of action, adding that the alliance’s attitude would depend on the government approach.

He advised the government to resolve the LFO issue in parliament.

Answering a question about ceasefire on the Line of Control, he termed it a suicidal step by the government and said it had weakened Pakistan’s position on the Kashmir issue.

He said Indian occupation forces were torturing and killing innocent Kashmiri people but the Pakistan government had abandoned its principled stance on the issue. He said this would encourage India to accelerate its atrocities in Kashmir.

Meanwhile, talking to journalists at the Jacobabad Press Club on Saturday, MMA deputy parliamentary leader Qazi Hussain Ahmad said the MMA had given a deadline to the government after one year of talks on the LFO.

He also warned the government of a protest movement if it did not table the constitutional amendment package in parliament.

He said the movement would continue till power was not fully handed over to the elected government and the package was presented in parliament.

The leader of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) said the government had been given a deadline of Dec 18 for tabling the constitutional package, agreed between the MMA and government representative S. M. Zafar on Sept 6, in the National Assembly.

He said the MMA would not wait for Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto or Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Nawaz Sharif to initiate a movement for restoration of democracy. He also rejected the formula given by Ghulam Mustafa Khar for resolving the constitutional crisis.

Appreciating efforts of Mr Zafar, the MMA leader said he was moving in the right direction but military rulers were reluctant to bring the constitutional bill in parliament.

He said Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali formed his government with the vote of the Millat-i-Islamia but later declared it a terrorist organization and banned it.

He said the MMA’s opposition to the government was based on principles.

The MMA leader said the US had failed to achieve its objectives in Afghanistan and Iraq and to conceal the failure, it wanted to attack Iran.