By IANS
Islamabad : Pakistan’s opposition parties will collectively boycott the upcoming general elections if the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also comes on board, a media report Thursday said.
“The All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) will boycott the Jan 8 elections and launch a movement against President Pervez Musharraf if the Pakistan People’s Party takes a similar decision,” Dawn said.
Hussain Ahmed, who heads the six-party Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) religious alliance that is a constituent of the APDM, on Wednesday talked to PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim “and stressed that a joint decision needed to be taken by all anti-Musharraf parties which think that the present set-up is unconstitutional and must be thrown out”, the newspaper added.
Ahmed told Fahim that the APDM would be willing to attend a multiparty conference (MPC) at a neutral venue if PPP chair Benazir Bhutto supported “in unambiguous terms” the demand for restoration of all judges of the superior courts deposed under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) that was promulgated along with the emergency on Nov 3.
Fahim told the MMA chief that he would contact him after consultations with Bhutto.
There are, however, chinks within the MMA on the question of contesting the polls, with one of its constituents, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) faction of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, deciding to run.
This apart, the decision of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) that ruled Sindh till the assembly was dissolved earlier this month in the run up to the polls to contest the elections has upset the opposition’s calculations.
“If the JUI and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement decide to take part in the elections, it will be very difficult for the PPP to stay away,” Dawn quoted a party leader as saying.
In an attempt to mend fences, Hussain called on Rehman on Wednesday and exchanged views with him on the current situation.
According to Hussain, though Rehman was not in favour of leaving the field open to rivals, he would eventually toe the MMA line.
Hussain, who heads the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), has also asked his party members not to submit their nomination papers till Nov 25, the penultimate day set by the Election Commission for this.