09 December 2004	Thursday	26 Shawwal 1425

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SWABI, Dec 8: Awami National Party (ANP) leader Azam Khan Hoti has said that 2005 is the year of general elections. Speaking to party workers here on Tuesday, he urged them to get prepared for the elections. He urged them to mobilize the masses and make them aware of the tactics political parties use to lure voters.

"The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government has failed to fulfil its promises about Shariat enforcement. Instead of solving the problems faced by the people the MMA leaders were demanding more perks and privileges for themselves."

He said: "The religious parties who got votes in the name of Islam have adopted a totally different course against the wishes of the people." The former communication minister said that the ANP had supported the Shariat Bill but the MMA did nothing to enforce it. "We still support the Islamization process."

He said in past the ANP had set an example by quitting their alliance with the PML-N when the latter's leadership failed to support the Pukhtunkhwa resolution. He demanded that the MMA leadership should also tender resignations as a protest and tell people that the federal government had created obstacles in the Islamization process.

GIk INSTITUTE: Former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan played an extraordinary role in making Pakistan a nuclear-capable country, enabling the country to achieve a unique place in the comity of nations.

This was stated by PML-Q General Secretary Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed at the All-Pakistan Bilingual Declamation Competition prize distribution ceremony held at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology here on Saturday night.

The competition was organized by the literary and debating society of the institute. Mushahid Hussain said that Mr Ghulam Ishaq Khan was the only person who had been associated with Pakistan's nuclear programme for 19 years and during that period, he had done everything in his power to achieve nuclear capability.

"From 1974 till his resignation as president of the country, Ghulam Ishaq Khan had worked for materializing our nuclear dream and with the help of God he emerged victorious," he said.

"His contribution and constructive role proved to be very vital at a time when the great powers and their allies created obstacles to prevent Pakistan from becoming a nuclear power," he said.

It was, he said, not an easy task to resist the US and its allies' pressure and continue the nuclear programme, but Mr Khan displayed sagacity and made an extraordinary contribution to the country.

"Mr Khan would always be remembered for his honesty and vital contribution for Pakistan's security umbrella," he said. He said that Muslim rulers should change their priorities to face the challenges and fight what he termed the battle of ideas.