QUETTA, Dec 9: Jamaat-i-Islami Naib Amir Liaquat Baloch said on Monday that a constitutional amendments package should be brought in parliament for discussion instead of making the Legal Framework Order part of the Constitution.
Speaking at the ‘Meet the press’ programme of the Quetta Press Club, he said it was the right of the elected parliament to approve the amendments or reject them.
He said all ordinances and laws introduced by the military government were temporary and without their approval from the parliament the promise of Gen Musharraf regarding restoration of democracy would remain unfulfilled.
He said the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s stand about the LFO was clear and it was demanding that the offices of the chief of the army staff and president should not be with one person.
He said the National Security Council’s status would not remain advisory when five uniformed army generals would sit in it and its status would become higher than parliament.
Mr Baloch said the president’s powers regarding appointment of the services chiefs, provincial governors other key posts should be conditional to consultation with the prime minister.
He said the MMA was against the increase by three years in the retirement age of the judges of the superior courts as all lawyers’ organizations had opposed the ordinance in this connection. He demanded withdrawal of the decision.
He said the experiment of reserved seats in the assemblies should be assessed by parliament after one term.
He said the Jamali government was still in crisis as pressure groups were blackmailing it for ministries.
“We have asked the government not to make the LFO part of the Constitution and to bring it in parliament for discussion,” he said.
Regarding the formation of government in Sindh, Liaquat Baloch said the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Grand National Alliance were not in a position to form the government by themselves. “The MMA has decided to keep its role in Sindh neutral and we would prefer to sit in the opposition, he said.
However, he said, the MMA’s talks with the GNA and Pakistan People’s Party were in progress.
Regarding the release of two former ministers of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl), convicted under accountability laws, he said: “The supreme council of the MMA was not informed about this. However, when the JUI-F was contacted, they informed the council that the former ministers had been victimized.”
Replying to a question, he said that the American Federal Bureau of Investigation should be stopped from operating in the country as Pakistani institutions were competent to deal with terrorist organizations.
He opposed privatization of educational institutions and amendment to the University Act. He supported the demands of the joint action committee of teachers and doctors and demanded that the government should take steps for resolution of their problems.
He said the MMA had no intention to abolish the local government system. He, however, said that the Local Government Ordinance should not be incorporated in chapter six of the Constitution.
He said accountability was not being carried out impartially.