ISLAMABAD, Sept 22: Deputy information secretary of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) Munir Ahmed Khan has expressed his surprise over the statement of Pakistan Muslim League (PML) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain that the “parliament can sanction a switch over to a presidential system, if it desires so” and claimed that even 100 per cent members of the present parliament cannot do so.

Talking to Dawn on Thursday, the ARD deputy information secretary said the system of government could not be changed by a mere constitutional amendment.

Mr Khan said it had been written in the preface of the 1973 Constitution that this country would be run by public representatives which clearly defined parliamentary system.

Mr Khan said if the government wanted to replace the parliamentary system with the presidential form of government then it would have to conduct fresh elections for a constituent assembly.

He said those who were talking about enforcement of the presidential form of government were actually unaware of the fact that the country had already suffered in the past when the system was imposed by Field Marshal Ayub Khan.

Mr Khan said Pakistan had lost its eastern part as a consequence of the imposition of the presidential system in the country. He said during the Ayub Khan government, all democratic forces continued their struggle for the restoration of parliamentary system in the country. Moreover, the ARD leader said, the federation could be kept united only through parliamentary form of government.

The ARD leader said every dictator from Gen Ayub Khan to Gen Pervez Musharraf had the desire to become sole chief executive of the country. Pakistan cannot afford to have presidential system as it can endanger the country’s national security, he added.

Mr Khan said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in her recent statement had also stated that there was no democracy in Pakistan. He said the ARD would continue its struggle for restoration of democracy, parliament’s sovereignty and supremacy of law in the country.