June 09, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 04, 1429

SUKKUR, June 8: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said he fears that if the present state of affairs continues, the country may soon have to go through another election.

The Maulana told journalists after chairing a general council meeting of his party here on Saturday that the state of affairs indicated that it was not the president, who faced problems, but the coalition government itself was facing a difficult time.

He said that the president enjoyed powers under the 17th constitutional amendment and it was a crime to keep the amendment intact despite having two-thirds majority in the parliament.

He termed the 1973 constitution a national charter and said that instead of the charter of democracy and the Muree accord, all matters should be decided in accordance with the Constitution.

The Maulana said that the restoration of judges was a purely constitutional issue and Nawaz Sharif had already shown flexibility about present judges. If the restoration of judges could have been done through an executive order, Nawaz government could also be restored in the same manner, he asked.

He said that despite clamouring about national integrity, every thing had been done contrary to it. He did not want to sabotage the process of dialogue between two major political parties but the statements issued from time to time by PML-N leaders that they would not give safe passage to the president, were aimed at playing with people’s emotions. Its implementation would not be that easy, he said.

Mr Fazl described statements of the governor of Punjab as irresponsible, saying that the governor’s office was an impartial one and the person occupying it ceased to be representative of a single party.

Despite the government’s peace agreement in Swat there was no peace in the region, he said. He denied his party’s support for lawyers’ long march and said that everyone had the right to protest. The parliament was empowered to legislate and if the institution was pressurised, then it would not be able to work, he said.

Senator Dr. Khalid Mehmood Soomro condemned what he called anti-Islam conspiracies by the United States and other western countries and urged the Muslim Ummah to get united.