LAHORE, Aug 15: Muttahida Majlis-i-Aml president Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani alleged on Thursday that various NGOs had received Rs800 million from various foreign countries to have people of their own choice elected to parliament.
He said at a news conference at the residence of MMA information secretary Pir Ijaz Hashmi that the money had been transferred to the bank accounts of the NGOs and the government had been informed accordingly.
He said an inquiry had been ordered by the government.
JUP leaders Lt-Gen K. M. Azhar (retired), Qari Zawwar Bahadur, Mahfooz Mashadi and others were also present on the occasion.
The Maulana said secular forces wanted the 1973 Constitution abrogated and the blasphemy laws repealed. However, he said, the MMA would defeat such forces in the elections. In his opinion the October elections were going to be a contest between secular, pro-US forces and the ones which wanted to uphold the supremacy of the 1973 constitution and bring about Islamic system.
The MMA chief alleged that vested interests were also involved in terrorist activities to influence the general elections programme.
Underlining the need for free and fair elections, Maulana Noorani said a 1977-like movement could be launched in case the results were manipulated.
In 1977, the Pakistan National Alliance had started a movement against the PPP-government as a protest against the rigging of the elections. The agitation had culminated in the overthrow of the PPP government and imposition of martial law.
Maulana Noorani, who is also president of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan, said price hike, unemployment and lawlessness were simply intolerable for the people but they were not coming on the streets as such a course could jeopardize the elections. In such a situation, he said, the government must ensure that the elections were so transparent that nobody was in a position to raise a finger at their fairness.
Answering a question about Qazi Husain Ahmad’s meeting with President Musharraf, the MMA chief said every party in the alliance had the right to take independent decisions, taking other coalition partners into confidence.
He said the Jamaat chief had taken him into confidence before meeting the general.
He said no MMA component had any objection to the meeting as the Qazi must have informed the president about the coalition’s point of view on the need for free and fair elections under the supervision of a reconstituted election commission.
He said he was satisfied with the Qazi-Musharraf meeting.
Asked about the possibility of the MMA joining the Grand National Alliance, Maulana Noorani said the matter had not been discussed at any of the MMA meetings. Had there been any such matter under consideration, he must have been aware of it being the head of the coalition, he argued.
Replying to another question, Maulana Noorani said the MMA would not make alliance with any party or parties. However, adjustments with other parties were possible. At present, he said, the MMA components were discussing adjustments among themselves.