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Military establishment behind PML ‘forward bloc’: Fazl

* Says no decision on whether he or NWFP CM will attend next NSC meeting

By Hasan Mansoor

KARACHI: The opposition leader in the National Assembly suggested on Monday that the military establishment, and not the opposition, was behind the formation of a ‘forward bloc’ of MNAs in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League.

“We have no role in such games and we have no contact with the leaders of the forward bloc,” Maulana Fazlur Rehman said at a press conference at the Jamia Madnia Islamia in Gulshan-e-Iqbal during a brief visit to Karachi. “Such blocs are normally created by the military establishment to perpetuate their pressure on their subordinate and subdued politicians.”

He said the dissidents in the PML were an internal affair for the party and his Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal had nothing to do with them.

Rehman said he was completely against military operations in Balochistan. “Even thinking of such an operation in Balochistan would be an imprudent way to settle the dispute,” he added.

He said the religious parties were not ready to strike a deal with the government that could hinder the development of seminaries. “We can never be ready on this issue because it has nothing to do with legality and is extremely political.”

On behalf of the opposition, Rehman expressed solidarity with the government vis-à-vis its relief operations in the NWFP and Azad Kashmir areas devastated by the October 8 earthquake. “We express our solidarity with the government on this particular issue, but we’ll stick to our stance on our differences with the ruling regime.”

The opposition leader doubted the viability of the parliamentary committee formed by the prime minister to deal with earthquake issues. “This committee is completely powerless and cannot play an effective role in the relief operations and reconstruction,” Rehman said. “We want a powerful committee which should be under the parliament and ensures the legislative body’s supremacy in all matters relating to the earthquake.”

Asked whether he or the NWFP chief minister would attend the next meeting of the controversial National Security Council, as the latter did last month, Rehman said a decision would be made after reviewing the agenda of the meeting.

The MMA leader praised the international community’s response to the earthquake, but claimed that the nation was perturbed by the presence of NATO troops in Pakistan. “We have no objection to the arrival of NATO’s engineers and technicians, but we do object and express our displeasure on seeing the NATO troops tramping on our soil,” he said.

He said any opposition agitation against the government would be planned after the earthquake victims were rehabilitated.

Rehman criticised the Commonwealth for its “double standards” vis-à-vis democracy in Pakistan. “The Commonwealth’s patronage of President Musharraf is anti-democratic,” he said.

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