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| August 04, 2006 | Friday | Rajab 8, 1427 |
Alliance of opposition parties being formed: Imran
SUKKUR, Aug 3: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan has said a grand alliance of opposition parties is being formed and the opposition parties will finalise a strategy for launching a mass movement against the government when they meet in Islamabad on Monday.
He was speaking at a “Meet the Press Programme” at the press club here on Thursday.
He said the opposition was likely to adopt a one-point agenda to get rid of the government, which, he observed, had come into being through a fraudulent election.
Mr Khan said there was no rule of law in the country and blamed President Gen Pervez Musharraf for the crisis in the country. He said the president had been making compromises to perpetuate his rule. He alleged that Gen Musharraf had even accommodated criminals in the cabinet.
He referred to a Public Accounts Committee report about plundering of Rs5 billion by nazims of Punjab in 2005.
He said that despite the PAC report, the corrupt nazims were allowed to contest again in the 2005 local body elections and many of them were re-elected.
Referring to the political situation in Sindh, he said a minority party had been given 50 share in the cabinet. He said this had been done to keep the PPP out of power.
He alleged that the present tussle between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the chief minister was in fact a struggle for grabbing more powers to do corruption.
He referred to a similar tussle between the chief minister and former provincial minister Imtiaz Shaikh in which the former had accused the latter of plundering Rs9 billion in the revenue department, and after some time the dispute between them had been “amicably resolved”.
The PTI chief said corruption and lawlessness were rampant everywhere and people were looking for a change.
He ruled out imposition of martial law as a result of the popular movement by the opposition, which might be launched in the coming days. However, he said, there were already martial law-like conditions in the country.
He termed the 17th constitutional amendment a fraud.
Mr Khan maintained that the prime minister was like a puppet in the Musharraf regime.
He said the present system in the country was neither presidential nor parliamentary.
He confirmed having talked to Pakistan Muslim League leader Nawaz Sharif and said he had assured him of his party’s support in the movement against President Gen Musharraf.
Referring to the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, the PTI chief criticised OIC member states for their failure to come to the rescue of the Lebanese people.
He said the biggest problem of Islamic countries was the absence of democracy and they were dancing to the tunes of the US government.
He termed the OIC statement on Lebanon a shameful document, for which the member states might have got permission from their US masters.
He also condemned the US for backing Israel.
On the Hudood Ordinance, he called for an open debate to scrap its controversial and discriminatory clauses and amend it in conformity with Quran and Sunnah.
He said the ordinance had been enacted in the martial law regime of Gen Ziaul Haq and, therefore, it had no legal sanctity.
On this occasion, Azizullah Brohi and Akram Rind of Jacobabad and Bakht Ali Brohi of Kandhra announced joining the PTI.
The PTI chief also visited the party’s membership camp at Clock Tower.
Our Jacobabad Correspondent adds: The PTI chief said democratic forces would have to struggle jointly for restoration of democracy in the country.
He was speaking at a press conference here on Thursday.
He said he had earlier supported Gen Pervez Musharraf because he had promised to introduce true democracy in the country but he had failed to do so.
He said the country was in the grip of lawlessness and corrupt people were part of the government.
Mr Khan alleged that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was directly involved in the Karachi Stock Exchange, Pakistan Steel Mills privatisation, cement plant privatisation and sugar scandals.
He said that in the presence of Gen Musharraf, there was no hope of free and fair elections.
The PTI chief said the operation in Balochistan, in which hundreds of people had been killed, was illegal.
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