ISLAMABAD, May 14: The All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) announced on Wednesday that it would hold a ‘national conference’ this month to work out a strategy to launch a movement for achieving the objectives it had set at a meeting in London in July last year.
It demanded restoration of the judiciary to the Nov 2, 2007, position through an executive order, instead of through a constitutional package which, it said, would mean legitimising President Musharraf’s Nov 3 actions which he himself admitted were ‘unconstitutional’. Addressing news conference after a meeting of the alliance, APDM convener Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Jamaat-i-Islami Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chairman Imran Khan said that the four parties in the ruling coalition — PPP, PML-N, ANP and JUI-F — were committed to the cause of restoration of the pre-Nov 3 judiciary, and to other objectives for which the alliance had been launched.
The APDM decided to form a committee comprising one member each from the member parties. It will make arrangements for the national conference to which people from all segments of society, politicians, intellectuals and representatives of the legal fraternity and civil society would be invited.
The APDM meeting held at the residence of former MNA Mian Aslam was also attended by Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch, Rasool Bakhsh Paleejo and Liaquat Baloch.
Mr Achakzai regretted that two major coalition partners — PPP and PML-N — had so far failed to reinstate the deposed judges in accordance with the Murree Declaration. They had also failed to take initiative to impeach President Musharraf who had got himself elected by dint of military might.
He said that all the parties which attended the Multi-Party Conference in London had agreed to restore the Constitution to the pre-Oct 12, 1999, position, end army’s role in politics and quit assemblies to put pressure on President Musharraf to step down.
Mr Achakzai recalled that when PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif decided to end the poll boycott he had made a commitment to remain in the alliance.
Qazi Hussain said that although Mr Sharif had decided to quit the coalition government gradually, “we will accept him in the opposition only when he will abandon the treasury benches”. “Our movement will be to get rid of foreign interference in our internal matters because our defence, foreign and education policies are being framed under the influence of imperialist forces.”