HYDERABAD, June 26: Leader of the opposition in the National Assembly and secretary-general of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, has urged the opposition parties to devise a joint strategy to counter the plan to re-elect President General Pervez Musharraf through the current parliament.

He was speaking to journalists at a breakfast hosted by MMA MNA Sahibzada Abul Khair Mohammad Zubair here on Monday.

Mr Rehman said opposition was of the considered opinion that fair elections could not be held under President Musharraf but he expected the opposition parties to participate in the elections, saying it would provide them an opportunity to remain politically alive.

He said an independent election commission was must for free and fair elections and a consensus national government should oversee the process but circumstances indicated that the government was not ready for it.

He said the MMA had reservations over General Musharraf because he had reneged on his promise to doff uniform by December 31, 2004. Mr Rehman said the country could not afford another martial law.

Regarding provincial autonomy bill, he said it seemed to be an attempt by the government to gain popularity during elections.

He deplored that for the past 60 years the issue of provincial autonomy had remained unresolved and provinces had not been given autonomy which was enshrined in constitution.

He said it was due to persistent struggle by smaller provinces that the government had shown readiness to work out quantum of provincial autonomy.

Regarding People’s Party Parliamentarians leader Benazir Bhutto's participation in Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)-sponsored multi-party conference, he said her presence in the MPC would benefit opposition parties, if she participated in the conference.

He defended the MMA’s NWFP government and said even Transparency International had said that level of corruption in financial management in the province was quite low.

The MMA leader said the federal government had failed to address Jamia Hafsa issue due to its ineptness, but also criticised the head of the seminary for refusing to take a word of advice from leading Ulema.

“People who do not have force cannot embark on such a path and they can only launch a peaceful struggle,” he said.

Earlier, addressing Shuheda-i-Islam conference at Miani Road, Mr Rehman dwelt at length over the war on terror in the background of democratic norms and human rights and discussed global situation in this context.

He said President Pervez Musharraf was making the US to believe that he was indispensable for it and hoodwinking the US by branding religious parties as extremists.

He said speculations were rife that the National Assembly would be dissolved and elections would be held for it while provincial assemblies continued to exist. He said there was a proposal that new national assembly and old provincial assemblies should elect president.

He said the US had attacked Afghanistan and Iraq with expansionist designs to capture natural resources but that approach was quite dangerous. The US aimed at controlling sea trade in South Asia by opposing China's investment in Gwadar that would force China contain the US with India jumping in too, he said.