03 December 2004	Friday	20 Shawwal 1425

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QUETTA, Dec 2: Mahmood Khan Achakzai, chief of the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, has said that the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (Ponam) would cooperate with the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) on a one-point agenda to launch a movement against the army rule.

The one-point agenda of the democratic parties, he said, should be to oppose the involvement of military, agencies and other service personnel in politics.

Speaking at a public meeting on the 31st death anniversary of the party's founder, Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai, in the Sadiq Shaheed football ground on Thursday, he said that without the annulment of all amendments made to the constitution after Oct 12, 1999, parliament would not be sovereign.

The message of Ponam chief Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal was read out at the meeting which lauded the struggle and determination of the PMAP founder for the rights of the oppressed nationalities and constitutional and democratic rule.

Mr Achakzai said that the main issue was the absolute powers enjoyed by President Gen Pervez Musharraf after the passage of the 17th Amendment in the Constitution, making parliament subservient to the military ruler.

He observed that not President Musharraf quitting the army post or continuing to hold it would not make any difference but the powers enjoyed by him with the backing of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal through the 17th Amendment was the main issue that confronted the political parties.

The PMAP leader said that Ponam's support for the ARD or other political parties would be conditional to launching a movement against the government and maintained that democratic parties must be clear that the 17th Amendment and formation of the National Security Council negated the democratic rule in the country.

He reiterated that the ARD and other political parties must agree on a one-point agenda, that is, army generals and intelligence agencies would have no political role in a democratic set-up.

He announced that if the objective of the political struggle was to make parliament supreme after overthrowing the military dictatorship then his party and Ponam would earnestly participate in the anti-government movement.

The PMAP leader said Ponam was not against Pakistan or the people of Punjab but the differences with the rulers were on principles because the Punjab leadership, backed by army generals, had denied national rights to Pukhtuns, Balochs, Sindhis and Seraikis, besides looting the natural resources of the oppressed nationalities.

Referring to the Pukhtun rights, he condemned the rulers and those political parties which were against the unification of the divided Pukhtun administrative areas into one united province which, he said, should be named Pukhtunkhwa, or Pashtoonistan or Afghania.

Earlier party's central senior deputy chairman Abdur Rahim Mandokhel paid rich tributes to Khan-i-Shaheed Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai for his contribution to the Pukhtun national movement and highlighted the sacrifices rendered by the late leader in the struggle against oppression.

The meeting passed several resolutions, including those against the construction of Kalabagh dam and construction of Gwadar sea port.