MMA to march in Peshawar, Quetta after Lahore

By Amir Nafees

LAHORE: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) will take out its ‘million march’ in the provincial metropolis on March 23 for saying another ‘big no’ to the US expected attack against Iraq.

The route has yet not been decided though, the march would set out from the Data Darbar or from the Mall Road, said MMA leader MNA Liaqat Baloch while talking to Daily Times from Islamabad on Tuesday. He said the similar marches would be organized in Peshawar and Quetta. He said the protest rallies being taken out in 600 cities of 60 countries all over the world would force the US to change its mind.

He said preparations for holding ‘million march’ in Lahore would be finalized soon and in this regard all the central leadership of the MMA had asked its party workers to cooperate with the organizing committees.

Talking about the negotiations between the government and the MMA, he said at least the government had “decided to listen to the opposition stance, realizing its awkward situation and the need of time”.

Mr Baloch said, “His party wished that the issue of Legal Framework Order (LFO) be resolved before the next session of the National Assembly. However, now the ball is in the government court.” He said the rulers would have to withdraw from its current position on the LFO.

The MMA wanted the supremacy of parliament and restoration of the constitution in its true sense, he said, adding “but the rulers in this regard seem quite non-serious”.

To a question, Mr Baloch said the date and venue for the government-opposition meeting over the LFO had yet to be decided but one thing was clear that the government would also wish to resolve the issue early.

He said that this was the duty of the opposition to point out the government mistakes and in this regard his party had done its duty.

The MMA would not allow the rulers to make any decision against the national interest, he said, adding the government would have to take the parliament and the nation into confidence.

Mr Baloch said that the state affairs should be run under the constitution and not on the whims of ‘one man’.

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