March 11, 2006	Saturday	Safar 10, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, March 10: Leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-N said on Friday that the forward bloc in the ruling PML would expand as many members of the party were living under harassment.

Speaking at a joint news conference at the parliament cafeteria, MNAs Saad Rafique, Tehmina Daultana, Khawaja Asif, Raja Nadir Pervaiz and Maimoona Hashmi expressed their determination to fight against dictatorship.

Mr Rafique, who had arrived here from Lahore on the special orders of the acting chief election commissioner to cast his vote in the Senate election, said he was glad that Speaker Amir Hussain Chaudhry who had failed to issue production orders in favour of Javed Hashmi had done so in his favour.

Mr Rafique said President Gen Pervez Musharraf had failed to satisfy the nation as to why Pakistan was totally ignored by US President George Bush when he announced favours and showered numerous concessions on India.

The nation which has lost 600 of its troops in operations in the tribal areas alone questions as to what was the cost of loyalty that Gen Musharraf had offered to President Bush.

The flawed policies of the rulers, he claimed, had brought the country to the brink of worst crisis.

He said party leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi was kept behind bars so that he could not criticize generals and lead anti-dictator campaign.

Khawaja Asif said: “Though we know parliament is not sovereign as it should have been, we are constrained to sit in it.”

He said his party legislators were ready for en masse resignation whenever opposition parties decide to take such a step.