LAHORE, Nov 11: Federal Minister Mahmud Ali has advised politicians to settle the constitutional issues on the floor of the house instead of wasting time outside parliament.

Talking to senior journalists and reporters at an iftar reception at a hotel here on Sunday, he said that the national assembly session should be convened without any further delay as it was the only proper forum to thrash out the constitutional issues and the amendments which the government wanted to make to the Constitution. He said that the politicians should have taken up these issues before contesting the elections and now when these had been held and the National Assembly had come into being there was no reason to discuss the issues outside the house.

He said that the political situation had a resemblance with the scenario before and after the general elections held in 1970 which unfortunately culminated in the debacle of East Pakistan. He said that an LFO had been issued by the late Gen Yahya Khan before those elections in the absence of a constitution. Now Gen Musharraf had issued an LFO with his proposals to amend the Constitution. He said that after the 1970 elections Gen Yahya Khan had no intention to transfer power to the elected parliament as his LFO had provided that the assembly would frame a constitution within 120 days and if it failed, it would stand dissolved automatically. He said that before issuing the LFO the politicians had advised Yahya Khan to hold the elections and have the amendments passed by the parliament. Now after 30 years a similar situation had occurred in Pakistan. An LFO had been issued by Gen Musharraf. General elections had been held and assemblies elected. The National Assembly had not been convened so far and the politicians were busy negotiating outside the assembly. It was not proper. “Let them discuss whatever they want to discuss inside the house,” he asserted.

Mr Mahmud Ali said that the people of East Pakistan had never wanted to get themselves separated from Pakistan as their opinion was not sought. It was an international conspiracy against Pakistan to prevent it from becoming the world’s largest and the strongest Muslim power. India and the west had played an important in breaking up Pakistan. He said that no doubt eastern wing of Pakistan had been separated yet it had not become a part of Bengal of India on the basis of ethnic affinity and same eating habits of the people of both East and West Bengals. It continued to be a Muslim state. “We continue to be one nation despite the fact that there are two states.” It was in consonance with his theory of one nation, two states.

He said that he had received reports from Bangladesh that there was a good response to his movement of the Tehrik-i-Takmeel-i-Pakistan and the people wanted some sort of reunion and “I believe that we should sit together to sort out the question.” He said that the TTP would continue its mission of reunion. He said that it would not be a confederation nor federation because Pakistan had been a federal state. He said that he was hopeful that they would be again one state. He said that once he was asked by a Russian ambassador at a reception at islamabad how was it possible to unite both wings of Pakistan.

He said that he had replied that West and East Pakistan were like two pieces of magnet which had been forcibly separated by thrusting a wooden peg between them. The moment that peg was removed they would unite. He asked that if both parts of Germany could meet why not two wings of Pakistan. If Alaska could remain a part of America thousands of miles away from the mainland why not the former two wings of Pakistan, he asked.

Replying to a question, he said that America had vested interests in the Middle East and Iraq was going to be its first target and he feared that the next targets would be Iran and Pakistan.