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| 20 October 2004 | Wednesday | 05 Ramazan 1425 |
ARD seeks moral support from EU
ISLAMABAD, Oct 19: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) on Tuesday sought moral support from the European Union (EU) countries in its ongoing struggle for the restoration of "true and genuine" democracy in Pakistan.
The support was sought by a three-member ARD team which briefed ambassadors of EU countries on the political situation in Pakistan following the passage of a controversial bill enabling Gen Pervez Musharraf to hold offices of the president and the army chief beyond Dec 31, 2004.
The delegation was led by Makhdoom Amin Fahim and inculded Pakistan Muslim League-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq and deputy information secretary of the ARD Munir Ahmed Khan.
The ambassadors of about 20 countries attended the 80-minute briefing which was held at the Embassy of Netherlands.
Talking to Dawn after the meeting, Mr Munir Ahmed Khan said the EU ambassadors asked various questions.
Replying to a question, the ARD members said the law and order situation in the country had gone from bad to worse in recent years, citing bomb blasts and terrorist acts in Sialkot, Multan, Karachi and Lahore as the latest examples of the poor law and order situation in the country.
He said when the EU ambassadors asked about the nature of cooperation between the "fundamentalist" Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and the ARD in the ongoing movement, Mr Fahim said the ARD had been forced to join hands with the MMA due to government's policies. He told the envoys that there was a possibility that the two alliances would formally announce a joint protest plan on a minimum one-point agenda of removal of Gen Musharraf's uniform.
The ambassadors also very keenly inquired about the on-going protest of the opposition inside and outside the parliament.
The opposition alliance, Mr Khan said, conveyed its concern to envoys over the restoration of Pakistan's membership in the Commonwealth.
"We told them that the political parties of the country were surprised over the Commonwealth's decision to restore Pakistan's membership in the presence of a military ruler," he said.
Mr Khan said copies of the declaration passed by the opposition parties in the roundtable conference, held in Lahore on October 11, were given to the ambassadors with the comment that this declaration reflected aspirations of the majority of the people of Pakistan.
Mr Khan said the ambassadors were also informed about "political victimisation" of the opposition members by the "military regime."
The envoys, he said, were told that Asif Ali Zardari had been behind the bars for the past eight years despite the fact that no charge had been proved against him. Similarly, he said, former speaker Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani and ARD president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi were being "victimized" due to their role in the ongoing struggle against the "military dictatorship."
During the briefing, PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq said the government's claim of improvement in the country's economy was false. The PML-N chairman also informed the ambassadors that the population of those living below the poverty line had reached between 35 to 45 per cent.
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