LAHORE, May 19: The MMA is hopeful that President Pervez Musharraf will honour his commitment on the uniform issue. This was stated by the alliance's deputy secretary-general Liaquat Baloch at a press conference here on Wednesday.

He said the MMA hoped that the General would fulfil his commitment and go by the agreement of separating the offices of the president and the chief of army staff by Dec 31, 2004, dispelling all legal interpretations in this regard. He also demanded an end to all kinds of army operations in Wana and settling the aliens' issue through tribal elders.

Answering a question about the involvement of the presidency in unification of the PML, he said the activities being carried out at the presidency were against democratic norms and unbecoming of a president, who represented the federation.

Condemning the government for torture of PML-N and PPP workers on May 11, he said MQM leader Altaf Husain, PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and PML-N patron Nawaz Sharif should return home.

Demanding the government that it should make public the 'much trumpeted' deal between Gen Musharraf and the Saudi government, he said the Sharifs should also announce their return instead of attempts to send home any individual. These attempts were damaging their party, he argued.

He told a questioner that snap polls did not suit the existing system. "However, nothing is certain in this situation." Referring to MQM's alleged hooliganism in Karachi by-polls, he demanded sacking of Election Commission member Justice Sadiq Leghari, resignation of the chief election commissioner, and re-polling in the affected constituencies.

The MMA, he said, would hold a big public meeting in Karachi on May 25. It would also organize a national conference in Islamabad on June 13 to issue a "national charter." Besides, he said, the alliance would also issue a white paper on the failures of the government on economic and political fronts.