Qazi sceptical of fair polls under Musharraf
NOWSHERA, Oct 29: President of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) Qazi Hussain Ahmad has ruled out the possibility of free and fair polls under the present autocratic government.
Speaking at a function here on Sunday, Qazi Hussain said that the country was at a crossroads and parliament and other institutions had been reduced into rubber stamp.
“President Gen Musharraf and his commanders are interpreting the constitution and law according to their wishes,” he said and predicted massive rigging in the next general elections.
Qazi Hussain, who is also chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami, announced that the MMA would launch countrywide movement against the government next month and would formulate its line of action in this regard.
He denied reports about differences in the MMA and said that the alliance would be further strengthened.
He said that Gen Musharraf had compromised on national interests and fully backed the US agenda on Afghanistan, Kashmir and other parts of the world.
The MMA president supported the statement of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar’s statement who rejected Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s offer for holding talks.
“We fully endorse the statement of Mullah Omar,” he said, adding that all foreign troops should leave Afghanistan immediately. He proposed holding a Loya Jirga after the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
Qazi said that the US and its allies had faced the worst defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Mujahideen had turned President Bush’s New World Order into “Disorder”.
He said that the Taliban had forced the US and Nato forces to arrange North Waziristan-like agreements in Afghanistan and pulled out their troops from different parts of the war-ravaged country.