08 November 2004	Monday	24 Ramazan 1425

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KARACHI, Nov 7: Leaders of various opposition parties and prominent figures from a cross section of society at an Iftar party here on Sunday condemned the military government for , what they said, playing havoc with the country and parliamentary system.

There was consensus among the speakers that the armed forces' increasing involvement in politics and the higher judiciary's reluctance in playing its due role had greatly helped the military rulers to perpetuate the dictatorship.

The Iftar party was hosted by Mairaj Mohammad Khan at Karachi Press Club. Justice (r) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, PPP-P President Makhdoom Amin Faheem, Senator Prof Ghafoor Ahmad, Sindh PML-N Secretary General Mamnoon Hussain and Balochistan National Party President Abdul Hayee Baloch were among those who spoke on the occasion. Renowned poet Khalid Alig presented a poem.

Due to the attendance by many prominent political figures and eminent personalities, the Iftar party turned into a well-represented political gathering deliberations of which were conducted by Azhar Jamil.

Justice F.G. Ebrahim, speaking on the occasion, stressed that it was Constitution that governed functioning of all institutions in the country. Therefore, he said, it could not be amended at the whim of an individual.

Observing that the country had plunged into crises due to the myopic policies pursued by the rulers, he said the only way to steer the country out of the crises was to send the armed forces back to their barracks, restore 1973 Constitution in its original form and transfer powers to legitimately elected representatives in free and fair polls.

Makhdoom Amin Faheem, tracing history of democracy in Pakistan, said that after the formal adoption of the 1956 Constitution, the then army chief Gen Ayub Khan made his way into the democratic institutions kicking off a spiral of military interventions in the country's politics.

He said that along with other democratic forces, the PPP-P was striving hard to get an undiluted democracy restored in the country. He deplored that the 17th amendment to the Constitution had changed the configuration of the 1973 Constitution. "Whenever the PPP-P would come into power with a two-third majority in the parliament, it would repeal the 17th amendment, restore the 1973 Constitution in its original form and restrict the armed forces to the role of defending the country's borders."

Prof Ghafoor Ahmad declared that military intervention could not be justified in a situation where a prime minister moved to remove a COAS for any reason. "It is unfair to punish the whole nation just because a COAS is not approved of such a move by a prime minister," he remarked.

He further stated that the Supreme Court had disappointed the nation by granting dictators the right to rule under the doctrine of necessity.

Accusing secret agencies of intervention in the 2002 general elections, he said that the MMA, through the 17th amendment, had made the ruling party to concede that Gen Musharraf would give up the military uniform by Dec 31, 2004. Gen Musharraf himself had made an announcement over radio and TV in this regard, he added.

He warned that if the armed forces continued to insist on prolonging its rule, this would lead to a situation that had resulted in the dismemberment of the country in 1971.

Mamnoon Hussain was of the view that the 17th amendment was aimed at providing legal cover to the rulers' misdeeds.

He held the military leadership responsible for all evils in the country, and pointed out that the generals who used to deplore political forces for changing four premiers in 10 years, had themselves resorted to replace three premiers in two months.

Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch, in his emotional speech, said the rulers had been holding the entire population of 150 million hostage. He said that the same rulers were responsible for pushing the country into crises.

Mairaj Muhammad Khan said Pakistan had been created with a view to promote democracy and civilian rule but the armed forces carved out a role for them to rule over it. Following adoption of bill on uniform, imposition of the National Security Council's supremacy over the parliament, and vesting of chief executive's powers in president, the country had been left with neither a parliamentary form of government nor democracy. He said a presidential and unitary form of government devoid of federalism was imposed on the country.