28 April 2005	Thursday	18 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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ISLAMABAD, April 27: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq has said any party which will hold talks with the present rulers or establishment will not only damage itself but also cause a colossal loss to the country. Speaking at a news conference after a meeting of the party’s senior leaders here on Wednesday, the PML-N chairman said they had told the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) that it would get nothing from the talks with the establishment.

PML-N Secretary-General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, acting parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, parliamentary leader in the Senate Ishaq Dar and Tehmina Daultana were also present.

Mr Haq said the PML-N believed that the present rulers could not be removed through talks and a big movement and practical steps were needed to dismiss the government. He said the party was satisfied with the clarifications and assurances given by the PPP leaders that they would not violate the charter of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and continue their struggle for the restoration of the Constitution and parliament’s sovereignty.

Mr Haq ridiculed the claim of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) that the PML-N wanted to join the religious alliance. “When I switched my TV set on and watched the MMA leader speaking, I thought I was watching a comedy programme,” he added. He said the PML-N had no plan to join the MMA, however, it would continue to cooperate with all those forces which were struggling for the restoration of 1973 Constitution.

He announced that the party’s next meeting would be held in Lahore next month.

Earlier, briefing the mediapersons about the decisions taken at the party meeting, he said the party had decided to observe Youm-i-Takbeer on May 28 with a befitting manner.

He said the PML-N considered Gen Pervez Musharraf’s statements during his recent visit to India as “evidence of his cowardice and retreat.” In fact, he said, Gen Musharraf had started advocating India’s case rather than of Pakistan, which was “most condemnable.”

He said the PML-N supported friendly relations with India, but reiterated its unassailable position that all steps would prove futile unless progress towards settlement of the Kashmir issue was made in accordance with the UN resolutions.

“This meeting believes that the unconstitutional system of Gen Musharraf is a poison for Pakistan’s vital interests. The only way to safeguard national interests, in addition to Allah’s blessings, is stepped up struggle for immediate restoration of the Constitution as it existed on October 12, 1999,” Mr Haq said while reading resolutions passed by the PML-N leaders in the meeting.

He said the meeting had rejected the official claims of economic progress as a “bundle of lies” and false statistics. “They continue to raise petroleum prices despite fall in international oil prices. The hikes in prices of natural gas and electricity have already touched intolerable levels. In this regard, sending inflated gas bills ranging from Rs4,000 to Rs8,000 to poor consumers last month is an extremely condemnable act that forced the people to get loans to pay the bills,” he said.

He said the people were crying under unbearable burden of inflation forcing them to commit suicide. The meeting, he said, condemned the government’s efforts to change the ideological identity of the Islamic republic under foreign dictation.

“The meeting calls upon the people to unite in direct action against this condemnable campaign of the ruling clique. The PML-N declares its resolve to face all adverse consequences in order to keep Pakistan on its ideological course”, he said.

He said the meeting had expressed deep concern over the countrywide increase in lawlessness, crimes, murders and robberies. He claimed that over 6,000 innocent women had been raped during past two years alone.