03 January 2004	Saturday	10 Ziqa'ad 1424

ISLAMABAD, Jan 2: The president and parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam), Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, has said that the vote of confidence for President Gen Musharraf was in accordance with the Constitution and in consonance with the 17th constitutional amendment.

Talking to reporters at his residence here on Friday, Mr Hussain criticized the PPP for observing black day and said that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had also sought a vote of confidence from the then National Assembly under the 1972 interim constitution.

He asked the PPP to review what he termed the 'black chapter' of its own history, while observing the so-called black day. He referred to article 282(1) of the interim constitution under which an emergency session of the NA was summoned to get vote of confidence for Mr Bhutto.

He said that the official order issued at that time read: "In pursuance of the vote of confidence passed by the National Assembly under article 8 of the National Assembly (Short Session) order, 1972, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto shall be deemed to have been elected as the first president under this constitution."

The PML-Q leader said Mr Bhutto became a minister during Ayub Khan's martial law and then minister for foreign affairs and deputy prime minister under Gen Yahya Khan's martial law and he was on the same post at the time of the dismemberment of Pakistan.

He further said that Mr Bhutto became the civilian chief marital law administrator and he would have joined the third military ruler, Gen Ziaul Haq, had he been asked to do so.

Mr Hussain said that Benazir Bhutto would have supported Gen Musharraf, provided she was appointed the prime minter of the country. He alleged that the Pakistan People's Party had nothing to do with the democracy for its leadership only cared for personal interests.

During the 1997 elections, he said, the PPP secured only 18 NA seats, whereas it secured four times more seats during the 2002 general elections under Gen Musharraf's rule, which was evident that elections were free and fair.

The PML leader said that during the PPP rule the opposition leaders were pushed out of the National Assembly during constitutional amendments, and the infamous federal security force (FSF) was used against political opponents, Dalai camps were established, and black laws were enforced to suppress opposition.