PESHAWAR, Sept 25: The supreme council of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal here endorsed on Tuesday the All Parties Democratic Movement’s decision to resign from the national and provincial assemblies in protest against President Pervez Musharraf’s bid to get re-elected for another term.
Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Jamaat-i-Islami secretary-general Syed Munawar Hassan told reporters after the meeting that the MMA had decided to adhere to the APDM’s decision.
They, however, said that a mechanism for tendering resignations would be worked out at the APDM meeting to be held in Peshawar on Thursday.
Attended by senior leaders of parties in the MMA, the meeting lasted for over three hours during which two major parties in the alliance — Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and Jamaat-i-Islami — differed on when should the resignations be tendered.
The JUI said the APDM decision had been taken without consulting its chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman who was in Saudi Arabia to perform Umra.
Before the meeting, JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed told journalists: “ADPM’s decision will be implemented in letter and spirit.”
The sources said that JUI leaders opposed the JI chief’s contention that even if MMA legislators resigned from the Balochistan assembly it would not result in the dissolution of the assembly because the ruling Pakistan Muslim League was well placed to keep the assembly intact even without MMA’s support.
JUI’s MNA Maulana Shirani was more vocal in his stand against the JI chief’s bid to persuade Maulana Fazl and his associates to accept the APDM’s decision.
The divide was also evident from the comments made by Maulana Fazl and Munawar Hassan during their talks with the media after the meeting which ended at around 10pm.
The JUI chief said the APDM’s decision would be honoured. However, he said: “There is no harm in holding further consultation to determine a mechanism for tendering the resignations. Strategies can be revised and changed to implement the decision.”
Munawar Hassan announced that APDM members of the National Assembly would resign on Sept 27 and legislators of the provincial assemblies on Sept 29 – the day of scrutiny of nomination papers.
“Resignations by the NWFP assembly members would lead to dissolution of the assembly,” he said.
Earlier, talking to journalists at the residence of late Maulana Hasan Jan, the JUI chief said the MMA could use all options, including the dissolution of NWFP assembly, to stop the re-election of Gen Musharraf.
The Maulana had gone to the place to offer condolence to sons of the noted cleric who was gunned down on Sept 15 in Peshawar.
He said the dissolution of the NWFP assembly, which was part of the electoral college, might put the credibility of re-election in question. He, however, said the religious alliance would not use all its options in one go.
He said Gen Musharraf could be acceptable to the United States, but he had become controversial for the nation. The JUI chief was of the opinion that Gen Musharraf should not be allowed to continue to hoodwink the nation.
