LAHORE, Nov 27: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Qazi Husain Ahmad says the alliance’s assurance that it will help save the PML-Q government from collapse is not for the present administration which, he says, is illegitimate.

Talking to reporters after an Iftar dinner here on Wednesday, he said the MMA had held out the assurance only for a constitutional and legal government while the incumbent setup (the president and the federal administration) was unconstitutional and illegal.

He said the religious parties alliance was ready to cooperate with the government for return of the country to a complete constitutional rule and help Gen.Pervez Musharraf become a constitutional president after resigning as the army chief.

“We are ready to show flexibility in our attitude but not to the extent that we are deviated from our stance.”

The Qazi, who is also the Jamaat-i-Islami amir, said like the other democratic forces in the country they had been in constant touch with the powers that be for the restoration of a civil rule. But our talks were on the point that we wanted a certain deadline for resignation of Gen.Musharraf as army chief, a demand that was not acceptable to the army team holding the negotiations, he added.

He believed that Gen.Musharraf would have to accept this demand for seeking two-thirds majority in parliament to indemnify his past three-year rule otherwise the thoughts of being an unconstitutional president would always be haunting him.

About the ongoing operation of the US secret agency FBI in the country, he said they had always been of the opinion that there must be no foreign troops in the country, on the military bases, and coastal areas for this undermined the sovereignty of the country.

He did not agree with the suggestion that the United States played its role in keeping the MMA out of the power corridors. “We did not participate in government formation for our stance (on Legal Framework Order) had not been accepted.”

Asked to comment on PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s statement that she would not allow her party to join hands with the MMA even if it had to lose power in Sindh, Qazi Husain said as she was out of the country for a long time she could not realize the ground realities here. He termed her statement non-political and show of inflexible attitude that would create hurdles for the party leaders here in forming Sindh government with the help of the MMA and working together in parliament for the cause of the Constitution.

Answering a question, he said the MMA had nominated him as parliamentary leader and not the opposition leader. A decision to this effect would be taken soon through mutual consultations as had been done in other matters, he concluded.