May 28, 2007	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 11, 1428

QUETTA, May 27: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has said that allowing the present rulers to remain in power would endanger the country's integrity. He also said that if the MMA was interested in a grand opposition alliance it should first quit the coalition government in Balochistan.

The ANP chief said that Pakistan was facing a serious crisis and the misfortune of the nation was that the rulers did not realise the gravity of the situation and were not taking remedial measures.

Mr Asfandyar said that the rapidly changing political situation required the government to avoid undemocratic actions against opposition parties. Instead, the government should act wisely to stop the present political process from getting derailed.

Addressing a public meeting in Zhob on Sunday, he announced that the ANP would extend its full cooperation to democratic political parties in their struggle to save the country.

He said the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leadership was criticising the PML government at the centre while sharing power with the PML in Balochistan. He said the MMA must quit the coalition government in Balochistan as prerequisite for the formation of a grand opposition alliance.

Mr Asfandyar criticised President Gen Pervez Musharraf for blaming the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan for the Karachi mayhem of May 12.