LAHORE, Sept 16: Recognizing MMA’s sovereign right to hold talks with the government to find some solution to the LFO problem, ARD president Nawabzada Nasrullah has expressed his confidence that the religious parties alliance will bear in mind the commitments it had made to the nation by supporting various declarations issued after the all-party conferences.
Talking to Dawn and then speaking at a news conference after his return from a visit to Britain and Saudi Arabia, he insisted that the LFO had subverted the Constitution and the MMA should not accept it at any cost.
During his stay in the two countries, he held talks with Ms Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif about the situation in the country and the strategy the opposition parties should follow to bring a genuine democratic order to the country.
He urged both the ex-premiers to return home, irrespective of the consequences they may have to face.
The Nawabzada said Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif were eager to come back to Pakistan, but were unable to do so immediately due to the difficulties created by the government.
PML-N vice-president Begum Tehmina Daultana who was with the ARD president during the visit and was present at the news conference claimed that both the leaders would return together — and very soon.
PPP secretary-general Jehangir Badr, Punjab ARD president Qasim Zia, provincial PML-N president Zulfikar Khosa, MNA Khwaja Saad Rafiq, Solidarity Front chief Naveed Malik and Istiqlal Party chief Manzoor Ali Gilani were also present.
Answering a question, the ARD president said the Sharifs had been banished without any constitutional justification for a period of 10 years.
He said the ARD would hold a series of public meetings to create an atmosphere for the return of the two former premiers.
He said Ms BHutto and Mr Sharif had issued instructions to their respective parties to take, as usual, an active part in ARD activities.
He said it augured well for the future of the country that bitterness among the PPP and PML-N leaders was no longer there and the two parties were devoting their energies for the establishment of a representative system.
The Nawabzada said Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif were citizens of Pakistan and nobody could stop them from returning to their homeland.
He lashed out at Gen Musharraf for his refusal to talk to the two parties which, despite alleged rigging, had got more votes compared to the tally of the ruling coalition. He said such a stubborn approach was against the very spirit of the parliamentary system which the general had been claiming stood restored as a result of the last year’s elections.
He alleged Gen Musharraf was responsible for sabotaging the various rounds of talks held between the opposition and the ruling PML-Q.
He said whenever the two sides were scheduled to meet, the general came up with a statement, making it difficult for the ruling party to show any flexibility on any issue.
He reiterated that Gen Musharraf could not become president as no government servant could hold a political office without waiting for two years after his retirement. Then, he argued, a referendum was not the right way to get elected as president.
In response to a question, he said Gen Musharraf could not stay on as army chief as his tenure had come to an end in October, 2001, and no competent authority had extended it since then.
The Nawabzada said he would soon call a meeting of ARD parties to decide the alliance’s future course of action.
He said Gen Musharraf had raised the controversy of dams only to deflect political parties attention from the LFO. He said in democratic systems, decisions on major projects were taken in consultation with all federating units.