ARD set to launch anti-govt drive after Eid

Staff Report

LAHORE: The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) is set to launch an anti-government drive by the end of November and opposition members will resign from the National Assembly if necessary, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab general secretary, told reporters on Sunday.

Mr Rafique, also a PML-N member of the National Assembly (MNA), said if the public asked ARD members to resign, they would follow the people’s dictate.

He said the opposition parties have no tentative plan to follow Dr Tahirul Qadri, who announced his resignation from the National Assembly on Friday to protest against the approval of the two offices bill. “Opposition members will resign only when they are confident that the government won’t hold sham by-polls,” the PML-N leader said.

The ARD had so far planned four public meetings after Eidul Fitr as part of a decisive round to get rid of dictators, Mr Rafique added.

He said all opposition parties, including the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Awami National Party and Pakistan Oppressed Nation Movement (PONM), would be invited to participate in the anti-government campaign.

Mr Rafique said the opposition would not move the Supreme Court against the two offices bill because it would be a futile exercise. He said the verdict allowing PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif to return to Pakistan was “openly flouted”. The PML-N leader claimed that President General Pervez Musharraf was about to dissolve parliament and enforce presidential rule in the country.

About the no confidence motion against the National Assembly speaker, the MNA said several treasury members would vote against the speaker if a secret balloting procedure were adopted.

“Many treasury MNAs are annoyed with the government and will vote against the speaker,” claimed Mr Rafique.

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