27 October 2004	Wednesday	12 Ramazan 1425

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PESHAWAR, Oct 26: The Awami National Party (ANP) has called upon political forces in the country to join hands against the Musharraf government and struggle for restoring the supremacy of the constitution and parliament.

"All democratic and political forces should unite against the dictatorship of Gen Musharraf, for restoring the constitution and upholding the supremacy of parliament to build a federation in letter and in spirit," said ANP chief Asfandyar Wali while reading out a statement of the party's high command at a press conference here on Tuesday.

He criticized President Pervez Musharraf's decision to continue to hold the office of army chief.

"President's reluctance to shed his military uniform is the root cause of all problems and issues confronting the country," he said.

All issues, he added, would be resolved if the president gave up his stand on the uniform issue.

Mr Asfandyar said the argument that President Musharraf remaining in uniform was essential to combat terrorism in the country did not hold ground.

"I am not ready to accept this justification," said the ANP chief, adding: "This has been carved out for the international community in an attempt to prolong his dictatorship."

The uniform, he maintained, had nothing to do with the government's efforts to curb terrorism. "There is no link between the two."

He said the ANP was ready to wage a joint struggle against President Musharraf to achieve the common goal of restoring the constitution in its original form, ensure supremacy of parliament and make Pakistan a true federation.

In this respect, he maintained, the party would also play its role to unite democratic and political forces of divergent views and wage a joint struggle.

In reply to a question he said the ANP's call for unity of political forces was not meant only for the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA).

He said the party would also try to bring parties in the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (Ponam) closer to the mainstream parties to strive to achieve the common goal.

Answering another question, he said a committee set up by the ANP to establish contacts with other political parties would be reactivated. However, he said, a decision on entering into an alliance or launching an agitation would be taken at an appropriate time.

Asked about his earlier call for a 'common minimum programme' for a struggle to make Pakistan a genuine federation, he said that ground realities had now changed. Earlier, "we wanted certain sureties on provincial autonomy, but now it is a matter of upholding the constitution and the supremacy of parliament."

In reply to a question, he said his party would not support any move aimed at dislodging the MMA-led NWFP government.

"We accepted people's mandate and would continue to support it," said Mr Asfandyar.

He warned the federal government that if it tried to dislodge the provincial government, it would be showing disrespect to the people's mandate. "In such a situation, we also would not respect the mandate engineered for Mr Shaukat Aziz," he added.