April 27, 2006	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 28, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, April 26: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that the Muttahida Majlis Amal (MMA) will not accept a caretaker government if formed without consultations with the alliance.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, he said free, fair and transparent general elections would remain a dream in the absence of an independent election commission.

ANP’s finance secretary Malik Fazlur Rahim Khattak announced at the press conference that he was joining the JUI-F.

The Maulana said that powers of the election commission should be enhanced so that it could function without any pressure. However, he said, any exercise to make the commission autonomous should not be undertaken without involving the opposition.

“Transparency in elections cannot be ensured by just inviting international observers to monitor the process, because rigging always takes place in remote and inaccessible areas,” he said, adding all that the country needed was a transparent mechanism for elections.

Maulana Fazl said the exiled leadership of the PPP and the PML-N, major components of the ARD, should have complete confidence in the local leadership of their parties as they were more aware of the prevailing political situation in the country.

“We have nothing to do with the directives issued by their leaders from abroad,” the Maulana said. He appreciated a recent meeting between Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif and said they should continue to hold such meetings in future.

Maulana Fazl said the articles of the constitution dealing with provincial autonomy were not being followed in their true spirit. Parochialism and prejudices could be controlled only by strictly adhering to provincial autonomy, which would also reduce the burden of the federal government, he added.

About the cabinet reshuffle, the leader of the opposition said the army of ministers had been increased to add to the burden on national exchequer.

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