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| 15 January 2004 | Thursday | 22 Ziqa'ad 1424 |
MMA defends deal with government over LFO
ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) parliamentary leader in the Senate Maulana Gul Nasib on Wednesday told a news conference that the alliance had never rejected the LFO in its totality
, but said it could not become part of the Constitution unless it was brought in parliament and approved by a two-thirds majority.
Senator Gul Nasib, who is considered a strong man behind the MMA government in the NWFP, said the religious bloc had entered into the deal under coercion, in the best interest of the nation and to put the democratic rail back on track.
He was flanked by another party Senator Maulana Rahat Hussain and Maulana Abdur Rahman. The senator, defending the MMA decision, said the situation would have worsened beyond repair if the alliance had not struck the deal.
Asked how the MMA would defend its decision in the light of its election victory on the basis of anti-American stance, he said the alliance definitely opposed the US, but it could not fight the national army.
Indirectly criticising the ARD and other opposition parties, he said: "Those who dubbed us as extremists have turned extremists themselves while we have proved ourselves to be moderates."
He claimed that the MMA being the single largest party in the Senate with 21 senators, even after losing Prof Sajid Mir's vote, deserved to get the slot of leader of the opposition. The occupation of opposition leader's chamber in the Senate by the ARD components was unwarranted and uncalled for, he said.
Rules provide that only the party gaining majority in the house by winning elections under one symbol could claim the office of leader of the opposition, he said.
Asked why the MMA had not protested against military operation in Wana after having struck the deal with the government, he clarified that the operation was launched even before the MMA-government agreement, saying that the alliance had registered protest against it in the Senate.
Answering a query about the increasing differences between the MMA component parties with a particular reference to the recent exit of the JUP from the Frontier body, earlier JUI-S' outburst and Sajid Mir's dissent, he said eruption of differences was not unnatural and resolution of these disputes was the responsibility of alliance's top leadership.
Asked how he claimed himself to be the MMA parliamentary leader, Gul Nasib said the decision was taken in a Senate parliamentary meeting in which MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed was also present.
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