ISLAMABAD Aug 17: Millat Party President Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari has dismissed any hand of agencies or the Musharraf government in making or breaking political alliances to influence the power politics of the country.

Answering a question at a news conference here on Saturday, Mr Leghari, whose party is a component of the National Alliance, said: “Certainly, the IJI was brought about under a particular agency’s arrangements, which contested polls under one symbol but, in present case, the expanded National Alliance with PML(QA) by the name of Grand National Alliance (GNA) are contesting polls on their separate symbols.”

Had the formation of the GNA been the handiwork of any agency, he said, at least the election symbol of its components would have been the same.

Responding to another question about the possibility of Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif’s return to the country as result of a deal with the Musharraf government, he said his “Jihad against the looters and plunderers” would continue in all circumstances.

The former president said: “Our struggle against Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto was not based on personal vendetta but because both of them had looted the national exchequer as heads of mafia in their two stints in power.”

Even if any one of them was returned to power by popular vote, he said, their criminal record would remain the same and subject to scrutiny of the people and courts.

Without admitting that JI Chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed would have been persuaded by Gen Musharraf to join the GNA as reported by the press, Mr Leghari said he (Qazi) was already cooperating with every political force, including the National Alliance and the PML(QA), for the elections and needed no persuasion as such by the president.

He claimed that the alliance of different national and regional parties was unlike the previous ones that had rallied round only to grab power and then looted the exchequer.

He claimed that the role of the new alliance would be very important as it would take over power as a national obligation to provide the people with justice and transparency.