KARACHI, Oct 23: The proposal for the formation of a national consensus government in the centre is not feasible as there are very few common points among the five major groups in the newly elected National Assembly.
However, if any two major groups join hands to form a government, they can muster support for a workable coalition set up in the centre.
This was stated by a central leader of the Muttahida Majlis-i- Amal, Liaquat Baloch, who is the chairman of the political negotiation committee of the alliance.
Liaquat Baloch, who is also deputy chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami, responding to questions following a press conference at the Idara Noor-i-Haq, said that so far he had not contacted the Muttahida Qaumi Movement to muster their support for the formation of the government as he had no mandate from the MMA to open dialogues with them.
“ We are holding negotiations with the PML(Q), the PPP, the National Alliance and the PML(N) for the formation of the coalition government.
All the chiefs of the alliance parties are scheduled to meet on Thursday at Islamabad where, besides other matters, reports on talks for the formation of the government with other groups in the National Assembly will be reviewed”, said Liaquat Baloch, adding that the talks had been held for upholding all provisions of the 1973 Constitution, including the supremacy of the Parliament.
He said that after the general elections, the MMA had emerged as the only effective and representative group having street power and it enjoyed the right to represent not only Islamabad but also all the four provinces and FATA.
“Our candidate for the office of premier is Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman and as no single group is in a position to form a government, it is the MMA only whose governments in the centre and the provinces can work with balance.
Liaquat Baloch, flanked by Maulana Asadullah Bhutto, Dr Mairaj-ul-Huda, Allama Hasan Turabi and others, said the MMA considered all the internal and external policies of the government a failure and US presence was a threat to peace in the region. He said the unpopular policies of the government called for a review in the Parliament to formulate policies in accordance with the aspirations of the people.
He said that now when the election commission had published notification of the elected members, the sessions of the national and provincial assemblies should be summoned without any further delay and the schedule for the senate elections should be announced.
“With the assemblies going into sessions, the brewing crisis would come to an end”, he added.
In his initial remarks, Liaquat Baloch said that people in Karachi had shown a historic confidence in the MMA and after a long period Karachi had rejoined the national stream
“In the October 2002 elections the people have rejected all those parties which used to exploit regional and ethnic prejudices. However, it is surprising for the nation that in Karachi the mandate of the is were being tempered with”, he said.
Terming the arrest of eminent orthopaedic surgeon Dr Amir Aziz a matter of concern for the nation, he said that at a time when elected institutions were coming into being, the continuation of the operation of US agencies was a threat to the entire system. He termed the arrest a violation of fundamental rights and demanded immediate release of the doctor.
Liaquat Baloch also urged the authorities to release all those arrested without any justification and being kept behind bars illegally.
Expressing support for the demands university and college teachers, he asked the government to refrain from oppressive regulations and leave the matter to be decided by the elected representatives.