By IANS
Islamabad : Pakistan’s opposition Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) has thrown a spanner in President Pervez Musharraf’s attempts to reach out to the religious alliance in a bid to secure his re-election by saying it would have nothing to do with the military ruler.
“The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has taken notice of reports about its secretary general Maulana Fazlur Rahman being in contact with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and unanimously decided that there will be no dialogue with Gen Pervez Musharraf, by any of its leaders or any of the parties in the alliance,” Dawn reported Tuesday.
The alliance’s supreme council, at its meeting here Monday, also resolved to launch a campaign from the platform of the newly-launched All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) to bring people on the streets as soon as the schedule for Musharraf’s re-election was announced, the newspaper quoted sources as saying.
During the meeting, Rahman said the alliance had decided that if a dialogue with Musharraf became inevitable, the entire MMA would be involved in it and not an individual or a party.
Musharraf had turned to the MMA when it became apparent that talks with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on a power-sharing arrangement to enable him to seek re-election while continuing as the army chief may not bear fruit.
MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed told reporters that the MMA leadership was firm that Musharraf would not be accepted at any cost – in uniform or without it.
He said the alliance had advised the government to contact the MMA if it was interested in a dialogue and not meet individuals or parties.
Dawn quoted sources as saying that during the meeting, MMA leaders repeatedly questioned Rahman about his talks with the PML leadership. Rahman gave an account of just one meeting with PML chief Shujaat Hussain.
“The Maulana agreed with the alliance leadership that there should be no more contact with the government as Musharraf was sinking and he needed a final push from the combined opposition,” Dawn said.
Asked whether the MMA or the APDM would field a candidate against Musharraf in the presidential election, Rahman replied: “We intend to take more stringent steps and will give surprises when such an occasion arises”.