LAHORE, Sept 26: The MMA and other opposition parties in Balochistan Assembly will move a resolution in the house against Gen Musharraf's uniform if the PML brings one in favour of it.
MMA deputy secretary-general Liaquat Baloch told Dawn here on Sunday that numerical strength of the MMA and other opposition parties in the provincial assembly was sufficient enough to pass such a resolution.
Necessary talks with the opposition parties in this respect have already been completed, he said. Answering a question, he said Gen Musharraf would surely take off his uniform as certain quarters in the armed forces had given assurance to the effect while signing agreement on the 17th Amendment.
All terms of the agreement had so far been honoured and the only condition yet to be met was the uniform, he added. About tabling of resolutions in assemblies and issuing of press statements by the ruling PML for the uniform, he said it was just a political gimmick to create an atmosphere in which Gen Musharraf could raise his image by saying that he had shed his military dress though people wished against it.
Moreover, he said PML leaders feared that without the uniform their party would again split. Mr Baloch who is also Punjab amir of the Jamaat-i-Islami, the second largest component of the six-party MMA, said any movement against the uniform would be launched when Gen Musharraf took a clear turn against the 17th amendment.
Sources in the Jamaat said the party's executive committee had recently decided to organize rallies in big cities of the country after Eidul Fitr on the uniform issue.
If the government resisted and arrested party's leadership, a call for march on Islamabad would be given, they said. According to the tentative plan, which is conditional with the approval of other MMA constituents, the call for march was likely to be given in the first week of December, they claimed.
When asked, Mr Baloch said it was one of the options discussed by the party. However, he said a final decision would be taken by the MMA committee formed in the Quetta summit meeting on Sept 25.
Asked if the ARD would be taken along in the protest movement, he said contacts with them were being made. Bangladesh model could be followed in the protest movement, he said when asked if both the MMA and ARD would form a new platform for joint struggle. Under this model both alliances would hold their separate public meetings, strikes, etc. simultaneously in the same city, he elaborated.