LAHORE, Oct 23: The Jamiat-i-Ulema Pakistan-Nifaz-i-Shariat (JUP-NS) has urged upon ARD president Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan to immediately convene a meeting of the All Parties Conference for launching a “Remove Musharraf” movement.

Party president Engineer Saleemullah Khan told newsmen at a press conference here on Wednesday that withdrawal of Indian troops from borders on the arrival of US Gen Tommy Franks in Pakistan was aimed at enhancing Gen Pervez Musharraf’s capability for introducing martial law to counter religious forces’ win at the polls.

“The Nawabzada should realise the danger and take immediate steps for thwarting it,” he maintained.

He asked Gen Musharraf to keep national interests above personal considerations and hand over the rule to elected representatives of the masses.

He said the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal should be immediately invited to form government in the centre, the NWFP and Balochistan, while the PPPP should form the government in Sindh and the PML-QA in the Punjab. He believed that the formula would be acceptable to all political forces in the country.

Mr Saleem called upon the PPPP to support Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s candidature for the office of the prime minister to make up for its political mistake of not making electoral adjustments with the colleagues in the ARD. Had the PPPP made adjustments, the PML-QA would have been eliminated from politics and Gen Musharraf, too, shown the door, he said.

He criticized army government’s interference with the election process — which had create a hung parliament, introduction of constitutional amendments, establishment of the National Security Council — which would be more powerful than the parliament and continuation of pro-US policies.

He also condemned the government’s commitment to IMF and World Bank directions that had so far given nothing but poverty, price hike and unemployment.