HYDERABAD, Nov 28: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal deputy general-secretary Liaquat Baloch has said the MMA will bring the people on the roads if the constitutional amendment bill is not placed before parliament.
He was speaking at an Eid Millan party organized by the local chapter of the Jamaat-i-Islami here on Thursday.
Mr Baloch said the MMA was under no obligation to vote for Gen Pervez Musharraf for the post of the president and demanded the implementation of the agreement signed between the MMA and the government.
He said many meetings had been held on the LFO issue with the ruling party and an agreement had also been reached but the government had not brought the agreed constitutional amendment bill before parliament.
Mr Baloch said the government violated the agreement and imposed a condition that the opposition should express confidence in Gen Pervez Musharraf as the president.
He said he failed to understand why the government was insisting that the MMA should give a vote of confidence in favour of Gen Musharraf.
He claimed that the people were fed up with negotiations and urged the government to give up its stubbornness on the issue. He advised the government to respect democratic rights of the people.
The MMA deputy general-secretary said opposition parties were united for the supremacy of the Constitution and parliament and restoration of democracy in the country.
He said the MMA had given one month to the government and if the agreement was not implemented, the opposition would launch a protest movement against the government.
Mr Baloch said it had been decided that the president would leave the army by Dec 31, he would consult the prime minister on national issues, the National Security Council would not be made a part of the Constitution, only one year extension would be granted in services of judges, provinces would be given autonomy and the Industrial Relations Ordinance 2002 would be amended.
He further said it was also agreed that the president would obtain a vote of confidence from the Senate and national and provincial assemblies and place the LFO before parliament.
LARKANA: Later speaking at an Eid Milan party hosted by Larkana Jamaat-i-Islami here on Friday, Mr Baloch criticized the government for what he called its U-turn in foreign policy, particularly on Afghanistan, on the US call after 9/11 and said that as a result the western border of the country was unsafe.
He alleged that under the US dictation, the military rulers were out to bombard the NWFP tribal areas which had tarnished the army’s image.
Referring to the recent move of Ghulam Mustafa Khar who is talking about military-civilian power sharing, the MMA leader said that it was a calculated effort to establish a government based on the model of Kemal Ataturk.
On the opposition strategy of thumping desks in parliament, he said: “It is daring to speak out in this fashion against a dictator who wants to insert one man’s rule in the Constitution.”