July 16, 2006	Sunday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 19, 1427

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LAHORE, July 15: MMA President Qazi Husain Ahmed says the NWFP government is working with Gen Pervez Musharraf because he is the de facto ruler, and as the country is being ruled by army, the alliance has no option but to go by the ‘ground reality’, while opposing the unconstitutional system as far as it can.

The alternative course for the MMA was to quit the government, disregarding the people’s mandate, and such a decision could be taken jointly by the alliance leadership after considering all aspects of the matter, he said talking to Dawn on Saturday.

When asked if it was not a contradiction that despite the MMA not recognizing Gen Musharraf as the constitutional president or the army chief the NWFP chief minister sat with the president when he addressed the provincial cabinet, and also received him when he visited the NWFP, Qazi said: “The contradiction is the outcome of the 2002 elections. People’s verdict in the NWFP is different from that at the national level.”

Qazi argued that to keep the country united it was necessary for the NWFP government to recognize the federal government. “The army is an institution and we can’t revolt against it, nor a revolt will be in the national interest”.

The MMA president said the alliance wanted an end to military dictatorship before the general elections, and for this purpose it would launch a peaceful movement. All opposition parties, he said, had similar views on the subject. He believed that the MMA would be able to mount enough pressure on Gen Musharraf to force him to quit so that free and fair elections could be held under the supervision of an interim government. The public mobilisation planned by the MMA would make it difficult for Gen Musharraf to hold “fixed” elections, and get results of his choice, he claimed.

He said the MMA would quit the NWFP and Balochistan governments once the mass mobilisation campaign had gained momentum.

The religious alliance has already decided to hold public meetings in various parts of the country, and the MMA Supreme Council is due to meet in Islamabad on Sunday (today) to review the situation and take more decisions.

Qazi said the mass mobilisation campaign would become a strong movement if the rulers tried to stop it. And if they did not, the MMA would be able to win hearts of people across the country before the elections were held, he hoped.

“Some kind of activity is better than no activity”, he said, justifying the proposed campaign.

About the ARD’s decision to move a no-confidence motion against the prime minister after July 31, the MMA president said although the religious alliance had not been taken into confidence, being the opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman would not oppose it.

MMA’s opposition to the no-trust move or its neutrality, both would amount to supporting the government, Qazi said.

He believed that the no-trust move would not be divisive for the opposition parties.

Replying to a question, the MMA president claimed that Gen Musharraf stood isolated at present as all his corps commanders were six to eight years his juniors, none in a position to offer him the right kind of advice. Such a situation, he said, was neither good for the army chief nor the country.

He said ideal time for the elections was when the military was in its barracks, adding that governance was the right of the elected representatives.

About his reported threat that he would hold a sit-in in Islamabad in September, he said he had talked of a mass mobiliastion campaign, not anything else. He said he had told a group of reporters that by September the MMA would be in a position to take its mass mobilisation campaign to its peak.

He hoped that even a peaceful activity like a sit-in would be enough to unnerve the rulers.

Asked whether the situation in and around Pakistan could afford any kind of activity that might lead to instability, the MMA president said military dictatorship was the root-cause of instability.

About the Charter of Democracy (CoD) signed by all ARD components, Qazi said the 36-point document was silent on the Islamic system or the need to rid the country of what he called subservience to the United States.

He said if it was assumed that the authors had not included Islam in the CoD as it was not a controversial issue, then there were also no two opinions about democracy which the document stressed so ardently.

He said if the ARD wanted the MMA to sign the document, it should hold talks with the latter.

Qazi proposed that a “revolutionary” constitutional amendment should also be agreed upon by all parties that anyone responsible for subverting the Constitution would be punished.