26 October 2004	Tuesday	11 Ramazan 1425

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 25: The opposition has criticized the government for its failure to maintain quorum in the National Assembly despite having what it termed an army of ministers, advisers and parliamentary secretaries.

Speaking at a joint press conference after boycotting the National Assembly session here on Monday, members of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal criticized the speaker for running the house without quorum in violation of the rules.

MMA's deputy parliamentary leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said that the government had failed to bring its members to the house despite a two-hour effort. He said that at the start of the session, there were only 30 to 35 members in the house.

He said that the government failed to maintain quorum even after counting the senators and advisers. The MMA leader said that it showed that cracks had begun to appear in the ranks of the ruling coalition.

Another MMA leader, Liaquat Baloch, said that Gen Pervez Musharraf had put personal interest before the national interest.

He ruled out the possibility of holding talks with the government on the uniform issue. Mr Baloch termed the information minister's statement part of a disinformation campaign. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had said that talks were under way between the government and the MMA. He asked the US and the Commonwealth not to adopt double standards by supporting what he termed a 'uniformed democracy' in Pakistan.

Mr Baloch said that the government did not dare take any action against members of the opposition.

MNA Abdul Rauf Mengal of the Balochistan National Party said that the government had prevented US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca and Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon from meeting members of the opposition. He said that the ARD leaders had to seek time for a meeting with Mr McKinnon on a private level.

MNA Raja Pervez Ashraf of the People's Party Parliamentarians said that the government had failed on the economic front as well as in running the house. He criticized the speaker and said that a miscount had never occurred in the country's parliamentary history. He said that the government had forced the opposition to boycott the assembly proceedings. He was of the view that the present system was worst than a martial law.

MNA Tehmina Daultana of the PML-N said that if uniform was so dear to Gen Musharraf then why did he not wear it when he met Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon?

Ms Daultana said that despite the speaker's warning, the opposition members would continue their protest inside the assembly.

"We are not afraid of jails," she said. The PML-N leader said that Asif Zardari, Javed Hashmi and Yousuf Raza Gillani were already behind the bars for their struggle for the cause of democracy.