October 09, 2007	Tuesday	Ramazan 26, 1428

LAHORE, Oct 8: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal President Qazi Husain Ahmad on Monday conceded that the MMA was facing a credibility crisis, but said this had dented the alliance’s image ‘to some extent’.

He hoped the alliance would be able to restore its political appeal and participate in elections as a united coalition with a ‘revolutionary’ programme.

At a news conference in the midst of the Jamaat-i-Islami’s central executive committee meeting at Mansoora, the Qazi said ridding the people of the ‘slavery’ of American administration and improving their economic lot were some of the main features of the MMA’s election manifesto.

He criticised the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRC) pleading that the law was meant to clean the political leaders involved in corruption cases.

“They were charged by this regime for plundering billions of the public money and the law will let them run away with the looted amount. This is simply a fraud.”

He said the MMA would expose the law and its beneficiaries in its election campaign. He said the people had a great resentment against the law and the religious parties would play their part in mobilising the public opinion against it.

The Jamaat amir admitted that the MMA was confronting some problem on resignations and dissolution of the NWFP Assembly, yet “we will not allow the alliance to falter because it (the MMA) has a benefit much greater than the gravity of the problem; the MMA will remain united and this is the endeavour of the component parties all of which want to remain part of this well-knit coalition”.

A meeting of the MMA’s supreme council would be convened shortly to discuss the situation, he added.

He said the unity of the MMA was more important than all other considerations because it had to mobilise the public opinion against the regime’s policy of surrendering the country’s sovereignty and reducing Pakistan as a United States’ colony.

The MMA, he said, was confident that the people would rise against the injustices and domestic and foreign policies the regime had been pursuing to the detriment of the state.

STRIKE: The MMA president also conceded that concerted efforts were not put in by the Jamaat and the PML-N to mobilise traders to observe a shutter-down strike on Oct 6.

He said all the APDM parties should have worked more diligently to make the strike a success and it was possible.

He said Gen Musharraf’s re-election would remain a controversy.

He said the party’s executive committee was discussing a host of issues and focus was being given on enabling the JI organisations and workers to take political decisions independent of other MMA parties. Meanwhile, the JI executive committee concluded its meeting.