LAHORE, Aug 1: The Awami National Party (ANP) says it will neither support MMA's candidate as leader of the opposition in the Senate nor endorse any joint opposition, including the religious alliance.
The ANP believed that the six-party religious alliance had been created by Gen Pervez Musharraf to frighten the West and sustain its backing for his illegal rule, secretary-general Ehsan Wyne told Dawn here on Sunday.
The MMA opposition role is fake and the ANP will put its weight behind real democratic forces only, he said. Though the party did not see the PPP as a real democratic force either, it would support its nominee, Mian Reza Rabbani, for the slot of opposition leader in the Senate, he added.
He criticized the government for amending the Political Parties Order (PPO) for accommodating just one person. According to him, the law had been amended to make room for Gen Musharraf to lead the PML as and when he retired as the army chief.
The amended law would diminish the importance of political parties and strengthen a one-man rule which would be dangerous for the country in the context of the present unrest in Balochistan, Sindh and the NWFP, he feared.
Deploring the lack of a political culture in the country since 1947, Mr Wyne claimed that it was only the ANP which had stuck to its commitment that no party leader should hold a public office.
All the ANP leaders chosen as ministers in the past had to resign from their party offices before swearing in as ministers, he added. Mr Wyne also criticized some political parties' opposition to prime minister-designate Shaukat Aziz on the basis of religion and on his not being a scion of any feudal families created by the British.
He, however, said that the ANP was against Mr Aziz as he lacked political experience and was incapable of handling religious extremism and disagreements among provinces on various issues. "He is an economist and suits as a finance minister but he cannot discharge the responsibilities required of a prime minister effectively."
