KARACHI, Dec 5: Leaders of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal at a demonstration here on Sunday stressed that Gen Musharraf must fulfil his commitment of shedding the military uniform by December 31 or face a nation wide protest movement.

The rally, held outside the Karachi Press Club, was addressed by Nasarullah Khan, Yunus Barai, Shamim Pasha and MMA leaders. They maintained that the MMA had provided the armed forces an opportunity for a respectable return to their barracks and for the purpose the deadline set by Gen Musharraf himself was accepted by the MMA.

Highlighting the failure of the military ruler, they recalled that soon after staging a coup, Gen Musharraf had pledged that he would introduce good governance. However, he did not succeed in his plan.

They observed that the law and order situation in the country was deteriorating with each passing day. The federal cabinet, they pointed out, was probably the largest one in the country's history.