KARACHI, Dec 2: The All Parties Conference organized by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal here on Monday criticized the postponement of the inaugural session of the new Sindh Assembly and demanded that schedule of the session be announced before Eid.

The APC participants were of the view that the postponement of the inaugural session of the Sindh Assembly was part of the military regime’s agenda which was aimed at perpetuating its authority by denying the people their rights.

They also maintained that the decision was linked with the regime’s efforts to encourage horse-trading in the province, just as it had manipulated votes at the centre.

The meeting convened by the provincial chief of the MMA, Maulana Asadullah Bhutto, was held at Masjid-i-Quba, which was attended by leaders of various political parties.

Maulana Bhutto said that by postponing the Sindh Assembly session General Pervez Musharraf had made himself controversial, declaring that if the regime failed to announce the schedule of the Sindh Assembly session before Eid, the MMA would launch a campaign.

“The regime’s attempt to foist a government of its own choice on the people through horse-trading is adding to the sense of deprivation among the people of Sindh,” he added.

Maulana Bhutto said that such attempts would jeopardize the process of transfer of power because it would stall elections to a new Senate and would consequently hamper the process of law-making.

He stressed that the MMA would continue to struggle for the supremacy of parliament.

The parliamentary party leader of the People’s Party Parliamentarians in the Sindh Assembly, Nisar Khuhro, said that the government’s move was a blatant violation of democratic principles and of the constitution. He claimed that it was aimed at blocking the PPP’s attempt not only at forming a government in the province, but also at getting its speaker and deputy speaker elected.

He said that the PPP was the majority party with 67 members in the house, and after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s decision to sit on the opposition benches with 41 members and also to abstain from the elections of the above three posts, no one could stop the PPP from getting its speaker and deputy speaker elected.

He said that minus the MQM, if all others, including the MMA, joined hands together, they could not get their candidate elected.

Attacking the regime’s malafide intentions, Mr Khuhro said that Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Qasim Zia had not sought adjournment of the National Assembly and the Punjab Assembly sessions, respectively, despite knowing the final outcome.

He said that by being instrumental in seeking the adjournment of the inaugural session of the Sindh Assembly politicians were providing General Musharraf an opportunity to malign political elements. He emphasized that instead of doing so they should push for early transition to civilian dispensation.

He said that the PPP would prove its majority when the session was convened. Regarding the claim by a pro-regime party that if it was not allowed to form a government in Sindh, governor’s rule would be imposed, Mr Khuhro said that the province was already under governor’s rule.

Allama Hasan Turabi emphasized that the postponement of the session was an insult to the people who had elected their representatives to govern the province according to their aspirations. He said that such measures would weaken the federation.

Abdullah Ghazi was of the view that the postponement was aimed at perpetuating military rule for, what he alleged, implementing American agenda.

He was critical of General Musharraf’s moves against the Lashkar-i-Taiba and against his party, the Jamiat-i-Ahle Hadith, on the pretext of their involvement in Al Qaeda activities.

He urged the political forces to evolve a mechanism for eliminating the military’s intervention in governance.

Others who participated in the deliberations included Mir Hassan Khoso, Qari Sher Afzal, Syed Zia Abbas, Mufti Usmanyar Khan, Maulana Abdul Raoof, Khan Amanullah Khan, and Hashim Siddiqi.