We did not want to fight Army: MMA

ISLAMABAD: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) admitted on Wednesday that it backed the 17th Amendment Bill because it did not want to battle the Army.

“We condemn Gen Pervez Musharraf’s pro-American policies, but the reason the MMA backed the government on the amendment was because it did not want to fight the Army,” MMA Parliamentary Leader in the Senate Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan told a news conference.

“We did not reject the Legal Framework Order (LFO) completely even before it was approved by parliament. The MMA chose the dialogue to save democracy,” Maulana Khan said.

When he was asked about the votes people gave to the MMA because of its anti-American slogans, Maulana Khan replied, “Yes, people voted for the MMA because of its anti-American slogans, but they also did so because of some other reasons. Democracy was not revived even after the approval of the amendment bill, but the MMA wanted to let democracy flourish.”

When asked who might be the opposition leader in the Senate, he said that was a government decision. “The MMA is the largest parliamentary group in the Senate with one election symbol and it deserves the portfolio of the opposition leader. The main thing is that it is a final decision the government will make,” he said.

About differences, especially on boycotting the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) in the North West Frontier Province and within the MMA’s ranks, Maulana Khan said, “We will discuss the issues and try to resolve the differences. The MMA is an alliance of various parties, so differences are a routine matter.” When asked why the MMA protested against Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee during the government of Nawaz Sharif and was silent during his recent visit to Pakistan, he said there was no MMA at that time. —Staff Report

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