WASHINGTON, Aug 9: Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s deputy convener Dr Farooq Sattar has urged opposition parties to stop forcing the president to divest his uniform.

He was speaking at a gathering in Washington on the party’s 25th anniversary.

The MQM’s leader said the present system was not ideal but “even an incomplete and moth-eaten democracy was better than no democracy.”

He also urged the opposition parties not to waste their energies on the demand for abolishing the Legal Framework Order because “even removing the LFO will not ensure that there will be no threat to democracy in the future.”

Dr Sattar said that in 1999, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had already removed the Eighth Amendment, becoming the most powerful prime minister in Pakistan’s history.

“But in less than 10 months after he removed the Eighth amendment, the parliament was dismissed and Mr Sharif was sacked.”

“LFO or no LFO, uniform or no uniform,” said Mr. Sattar, “democracy will remain weak so long as democratic institutions are not strengthened.”

Mr Sattar said that the same religious leaders “saw no harm in accepting, even kissing, Gen Zia’s uniform. Then why this aversion to Musharraf’s uniform? If you believe in a principle, apply it equally to all.”

“You cannot say that the LFO is OK for participating in elections, even for filing your nomination papers for the prime minister’s post, as Maulana Fazlur Rahman did. But when that process is over, it should be thrown out,” he added.

Mr Sattar urged Pakistan’s religious parties to stop doing new “experiments with the country every day. In the present international scenario, the country cannot afford such experiments.”

The MQM leader said that in a country where “prime ministers are tailored to meet the needs of the establishment and parliaments are made on order, you cannot have political stability.”

He suggested three basic changes for bringing stability to the country: a consistent and sustainable fiscal development policy, constitutional and political reforms and devolution of power and resources.

Mr Sattar said that unless the federation’s powers were decentralized and resources distributed equally, there would be no justice and no stability. He said the government took “a 180-degree somersault” when it dumped the Taliban after the 9-11 incident. “A similar decision is now needed to ban jihadi activities at home,” he added. The MQM leader also urged the government to resolve the Kashmir dispute peacefully because unless it is resolved “we will continue to waste our precious resources on unproductive activities.”