QUETTA, Jan 9: Pukthunkhwa Milli Awami Party leaders on Friday castigated the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leadership for strengthening the military dictatorship by backing the 17 Amendment that has endorsed the Legal Framework Order and jeopardized the independence of parliament.

Speaking at a meeting held to mark the 16th death anniversary of Razzak Dotani at the Zarif Shaheed auditorium, Government College, they accused the MMA of keeping its allies in the opposition in the dark and paving the way for a perpetual martial law through the agreement.

They said the MMA had betrayed its voters by accepting the LFO and President Gen Pervez Musharraf as the head of the state. The PMAP leaders announced that the democratic political parties would expose the designs of the alliance to weaken the political and democratic institutions and deprive the smaller nationalities of their rights.

They accused the rulers of denying the Pukhtuns their national rights and said the Pukhtun areas were divided in three administrative set-ups to weaken their political base. They said that PMAP would not compromise on principles.