PESHAWAR, Oct 29: Federal Minister for Information Mohammed Ali Durrani has rejected reports about a deal between the government and the People’s Party Parliamentarians, saying that ‘change could come only through the ballot’.
Talking to journalists at the residence of former president late Ghulam Ishaq Khan here on Sunday, Mr Durrani said that deal with any political party, including the PPP, was not on government’s agenda.
The minister had come to the residence of Mr Khan to attend his qul ceremony which was attended also by the leader of the house in the Senate, Waseem Sajjad, Senator Mushahid Hussain, NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani and Balochistan Governor Owais Ghani.
“The government is ready to hold talks with the PPP and other political parties if they agree on the steps taken by President Gen Musharraf for political stability in the country,” the minister said. “But there will be no secret deal with any party,” he added.
He said that PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto could not face corruption charges in the court and fled from the country whereas (another) former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had gone abroad ‘under a deal with the government.’
“If Nawaz Sharif wants change in the deal, he should request the government and the request may be considered”, the outspoken minister said.
He claimed that next general elections would be free and fair and said that the ‘political parties’ have been ‘invited to cooperate with’ the Election Commission and ‘the government’ in this regard.
Mr Durrani criticized the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal for collecting resignations from its lawmakers and termed it an insult of parliament. He said that people did not elect lawmakers so that they could resign from the assemblies later.
He said that MMA protest movement had failed and the alliance could not bring masses on the streets. “Over the past four years, the MMA has tried to launch a movement against the government, but could not succeed.”
HASBA BILL: The minister said that the federal government would not allow wastage of national wealth in the name of enforcement of Shariat which, he alledged, were actually aimed at ‘accommodating MMA workers in the NWFP administration,’ adds APP.
When asked to comment on the possibility of passage of Hasba bill in the current session of the NWFP Assembly, he said: “The federal government would not allow any move in this regard in haste and the issue will be discussed threadbare from every angle.”
Mr Durrani said that the passage of Hasba bill was aimed at accommodating MMA workers on ‘key (administrative) posts out of merit, which he termed mockery of Islamic principles.