05 January 2005	Wednesday	23 Ziqa'ad 1425

LAHORE, Jan 4: Alliance for Restoration of Democracy chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, ruling out the possibility of the ARD legislators resigning from their seats , said here on Tuesday that the opposition would use the parliament as a forum to advance its struggle for the annulment of the 17th Amendment and the supremacy of parliament.

"Parliament is a forum which we can use for our movement. Why should we leave our assembly seats? We'll continue our struggle both in parliament and outside," said the ARD chief while answering reporters' questions.

He was asked to comment on a ruling party senator's suggestion that before launching a movement against the government opposition MPs should free up their seats in parliament.

The ARD chairman had come to preside over the launching of Suay Daar, authored by PPP's Tariq Khurshid. Mr Fahim said the ARD was not confining its struggle to forcing Gen Musharraf to take off his uniform. Instead, it was committed to doing away with the 17th Amendment and the National Security Council constituted under it.

He said a number of parties in the ARD had reservations about joining hands with the MMA because of the religious alliance's past conduct. These parties were complaining that the MMA had supported the 17th Amendment after a year-long cooperation with the ARD against the Legal Framework Order.

The Makhdoom said the ARD would meet in Lahore on Jan 11 to hold a comprehensive discussion on the subject and any decision on cooperation with the religious alliance would be taken keeping in mind the opinion of all the alliance components.

He recalled that the MMA leaders had been consistent in their assertions that they would not hold talks with the government if Gen Musharraf did not hang up his uniform by Dec 19. But then, he regretted, the alliance secretary-general met the prime minister.

He said some ARD parties still suspected that the MMA would not miss the opportunity of talks if offered by the government. Altaf Qureshi and Naveed Chaudhry were also present when the ARD chief was talking to journalists.

Earlier, Mr Fahim said at the launching ceremony the people would have to get their rights through struggle. He criticized Gen Musharraf for violating his oath by giving himself a political role.

The previous military governments had caused irreparable damage to the country while the destruction being caused by the present setup would be visible when it came to an end.

He said the government had lost its writ and judges kidnapped from Sindh were yet to be recovered. Assailing the Sindh government for holding talks with the kidnappers, the ARD chief said if the situation continued to deteriorate the time was not far off when the government would have to constitute benches of senior judges to hold talks with the accused.

Mr Fahim dismissed Sindhi leader Mumtaz Bhutto's assertion that the PPP leaders had done nothing to save the life of Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He recalled the efforts made by his father and brothers for the purpose, although they had not been successful.

PPP secretary-general Senator Raza Rabbani said assertion that the party was parting ways with its principles was baseless. He said the party would not make the slightest departure and would continue its struggle for its objectives.

Mr Rabbani said the experiment of civil-military partnership had failed after which the entire civil society was required to make concerted efforts for the restoration of democracy.

He felt encouraged by what he called the culture of political tolerance witnessed after the October 12, 1999, coup. In his opinion, the chapter of military interventions would stand closed for good if all political forces sustained their struggle.

About cooperation with the MMA, the PPP leader said a "working relationship" was possible with it for the supremacy of the constitution if the religious alliance first admitted that it had made a mistake by allowing Gen Musharraf to retain both offices for one year.

MNA Aitzaz Ahsan said although the government had been sending messages to Ms Bhutto, she had not accepted any offer. Some party leaders were of the view that the PPP should make a deal with the government. But, he said, he was opposed to such suggestions.

Punjab PPP-SB president Dr Mubashir Hasan said there were two forces in society: oppressors and the oppressed, and the military government represented the former. He agreed with the view expressed by a speaker that government and power were two different things and the real power could be gotten only with public pressure.

Referring to the claims that the Musharraf government had got stronger with the passage of time, Dr Hasan said had it been so the rulers would not have recruited more people in police and intelligence agencies.

He said at present there were some 51,000 proclaimed offenders in the Punjab alone, a fact which was sufficient to belie the government claims. Author Tariq Khurshid said the party should give its workers their due status.

Otherwise, it would not be fair to expect that they would offer sacrifices against dictatorship he added. Fakhr Zaman, Dr Anwar Sajjad, Senator Sajjad Bukhari and Farrukh Sohail Gowindi also addressed.