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| 03 May 2004 | Monday | 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
Fahim foresees IJI-type alliance for snap polls
LAHORE, May 2: ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim described on Sunday a planned merger of various factions of the PML and the National Alliance as an attempt to form another IJI-like coalition to counter opposition forces
in snap elections the government might decide to hold.
Addressing news conference after an emergency meeting of the alliance, he said the ARD wanted parliament to complete its term but was also prepared to go for fresh elections provided they were transparent and held under the supervision of human rights organizations.
The Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), of which the PML was a major component, had been set up against the PPP in the late eighties. Mr Fahim said that agencies had helped form the IJI, but PML-N leader Begum Tehmina Daultana, who represented her party at the ARD meeting, shrugged off any embarrassment by saying she was not the one who had cobbled together the IJI.
She said: "The IJI is a story of the past, at present we are with the ARD". Alluding to the speed with which the National Alliance leaders decided to join the PML, the ARD chief sarcastically said: "I salute their compliant attitude".
He alleged that the by-elections held by the government were not fair and if snap elections were to be as 'impartial' then there was no need to go for such an exercise. The ARD chairman said that after assuming power Gen Pervez Musharraf had announced that he would uproot corruption and take stern action against the corrupt.
But, he alleged, corrupt elements were working under the very nose of the general. Referring to a recent statement coming from Gen Musharraf that corrupt elements had made their way to power despite all checks, the ARD chief said the president was under obligation to identify such elements and jettison them.
He criticized the statements made by some ministers that Gen Musharraf should not take off his military uniform, saying such utterances were not possible without a signal from the relevant quarters.
He condemned the mistreatment of Iraqis prisoners by US and British troops, saying it was against all conventions. The meeting criticized the conviction of Makhddom Javed Hashmi, increase in prices of petroleum products, and arrest of opposition workers.
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