December 26, 2007	Wednesday	Zilhaj 15, 1428

LAHORE, Dec 25: MMA President Qazi Husain Ahmed claims that the turnout in the Jan 8 election will not be more than 15 per cent, although the powers that be will exaggerate it to give a false impression to the international community that the people had participated in the ‘farce’ in a big way.

He told Dawn on Tuesday that the All Parties Democratic Movement would launch a very strong movement against whosoever came to power as a result of which fresh elections would become unavoidable within a few months. However, he made it clear that the new polls would be held on the APDM’s terms and under the supervision of a new dispensation of which President Musharraf would not be a part.

The Qazi, who is also amir of the Jamaat-i-Islami, alleged that the parties taking part in the election were not aware of what would happen after Jan 8. In his words, these parties did not have the capability to see into the future.

He said the APDM had taken the boycott decision after going through several opinion polls which showed that as many as 67 per cent people did not want to take part in the election as they would not lead to the restoration of the pre-Nov 3 judiciary. “We represent the people who want to boycott the polls.”

He said at a time when the relevant authorities were saying that new parliament’s approval was not required for whatever was done on Nov 3 and subsequently, there would be no justification for any party to take part in the election. In his opinion the status of the new assemblies would be much less than that of a rubberstamp.

The Qazi said Jan 8 would be the day when the APDM would start its movement against a bogus system. “We’ll mobilise the people for the restoration of the pre-Nov 3 judiciary, revival of the Constitution as it stood on Oct 12, 1999, and supremacy of the rule of law”.

The Jamaat chief said the APDM would like to have its demands met through a mass movement. Another military coup was the only other alternative, the Qazi said, but hastened to add that the opposition coalition would never like to pave the way for an unconstitutional step.

In response to a question, he said, once the Supreme Court with Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry as chief justice was restored, all other demands would be met without any problem.strike call: Jamaat-i-Islami Secretary-General Syed Munawwar Hasan has called upon the people to observe a strike on Jan 8 and boycott the general election on the call of APDM.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, he said the election drama was being staged to declare the ‘selected’ candidates of President Pervez Musharraf successful.

The people should stay away from polls for getting rid of the ‘draconian’ system thrust on them by the generals.

He said the law and order situation had deteriorated in the country and the people were starving on account of high cost of living but the PML-Q was ridiculing their poverty by squandering billions of rupees on its election campaign.