Motions to oust president, PM if talks fail: Baloch

Staff Report

LAHORE: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Deputy Secretary General Liaqat Baloch on Monday said if the ongoing consultations between the government and the opposition parties on the issues of the Legal Framework Order (LFO) and President Musharraf’s uniform failed, the MMA would consider a no-confidence motion against the prime minister, impeaching the president and starting agitation.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Baloch said the MMA wanted negotiations with the government to succeed and if the negotiations did not bear fruit, the MMA would use all other options for the supremacy of parliament and the constitution. The MMA Supreme Council would meet in Islamabad on August14 at 11am to finalise its strategy to be announced at its Independence Day rally at Liaqat Bagh in Rawalpindi. “We will review the government’s attitude before finalizing the strategy,” he said.

Mr Baloch said there had been no progress so far in negotiations with the government. He said President General Musharraf was ready to shed his uniform but did not want the mater included in the proposed constitutional amendments. “Musharraf wants to settle the issue verbally with the MMA,” he said.

He said the MMA had demanded the government put forward the proposed amendments in the National Assembly in the form of a bill, as was done for the eighth amendment. He said Schedule 6 of the LFO was against the sovereignty of the provinces.

Mr Baloch said Gen Musharraf went to America to seek a mandate to roll back democratic process in Pakistan, but he was refused and now negotiations were his need. He said previous negotiations failed due to leg pulling within the government camp. “They do not trust one another and this attitude could deepen the crisis in the country,” he said.

About differences between the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the MMA, he said the ARD must start trusting the MMA and create an atmosphere of mutual respect and honour, otherwise the government would take advantage of the situation. He appreciated the ARD’s decision to change the venue of its Independence Day rally from Rawalpindi to Lahore and said both parties were working to restore “true democracy” in the country.

Asked when the next round of negotiations would start, he said, “You better ask the government.”

MMA Information Secretary Pir Ejaz Hashmi, Jamaat-e-Islami Deputy Secretary General Fareed Ahmad Paracha, member of the Punjab Assembly (MPA) Ahsanullah Waqas, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F) leader Maulana Amjad Khan and local MMA leaders also attended the conference.

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