LAHORE, Nov 2: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal on Tuesday distanced itself from the controversial 17th Amendment and its president Qazi Husain Ahmed said now the religious alliance would struggle to pull down the existing "dictatorial system" along with its architect Gen Pervez Musharraf.
The Qazi said the MMA would work for the establishment of an interim setup to have fresh elections held under the supervision of a fully independent election commission, reconstituted in consultation with parties represented in parliament.
Talking to Dawn, the MMA chief said the 17th Amendment had become invalid after Gen Musharraf reneged on his commitment to step down as army chief by the end of the year.
When it was pointed out that a constitutional amendment did not become invalid simply by somebody saying so, the Qazi stuck to his point of view, adding that even Gen Musharraf was now an illegitimate president.
The MMA had provided parliamentary support the ruling PML needed to have the amendment passed from the two-house parliament.
The apparent shift in the religious alliance's stand on the status of the amendment and the presidency of Gen Musharraf has been voiced a day after the Senate passed the bill allowing the president to stay on as army chief even after Dec 31. The National Assembly has already approved the enactment and now the president will sign it into law.
Qazi Husain argued that it was the constitution which made it obligatory that President Musharraf take off his military uniform by the end of the year. A simple enactment approved by a majority vote in the two houses could not waive that obligation, he said.
In his opinion the ruling coalition, through the latest legislation, had violated the 17th Amendment as a consequence of which Gen Musharraf's status was no more than that of an 'intruder.'
When reminded that a sovereign parliament's decisions could not be invalidated even by courts, let alone the members of the same house, the MMA chief said parliament was not supposed to exceed its jurisdiction. He said in a genuinely democratic society what the Pakistani parliament had done, would have been set aside as unconstitutional by superior courts.
In Pakistan, he said, a dictator had upset the entire system and destroyed all institutions.
He said now the religious alliance would use the street power to force Gen Musharraf and the present government to quit. For this purpose, he said, a series of public meetings would be held in various parts of the country in the coming weeks.
About the possibility of the MMA joining hands with the ARD at a time when political stands of the two alliances were almost identical, the Qazi said both coalitions should better operate from their respective platforms. However, he said, they should promote coordination.
He was of the opinion that opposition parties should sit together to work out what he called a roadmap to restore a genuinely democratic system.
The MMA chief refuted the impression that his secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rehman had a different thinking on various issues. The Qazi said there was a complete harmony of thought between the two and no statement was issued by either side without consulting the other.
In response to a question, he said the MMA's Supreme Council had restrained NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani from participating in the National Security Council meetings. The decision would be valid unless reviewed by the same body, he said.