LAHORE, Aug 5: Leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, has said personally he has no qualms about holding a dialogue with Gen Pervez Musharraf but a final decision on having negotiations with the army ruler, if deemed necessary, will be taken by the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA).

“I personally feel we should bail Gen Musharraf out because if the opposition mounted pressure on him (Gen Musharraf), a situation like that of 1969 may arise when Ayub Khan handed over power to Gen Yahya Khan or some other general may venture to take over”, the Maulana said in a telephonic conversation with Dawn, speaking from his Dera Ismail Khan residence on Sunday.

However, he said Gen Musharraf had lost confidence because he first back-pedalled on the commitment he made with the MMA after the passage of the 17th amendment to the Constitution and again betrayed the nation by not honouring the solemn pledge regarding doffing his uniform before Dec 31, 2004, he made in his nationwide speech.

“If President Musharraf made an offer for talks, the opposition will first require of him to explain his past conduct and ensure a firm promise about (doffing) his uniform; this is the only way we will be able to hold parleys with him and Gen Musharraf will succeed in calling the opposition to the table for talks”, he added.

However, a senior office-holder of the Maulana’s Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam confided to Dawn that the MMA secretary-general had a ‘definite information’ about another senior army general stepping in if pressure on Gen Musharraf mounted further on the question of shedding his uniform before he sought re-election for another term in the Presidency from the existing assemblies. The office-holder further said that a majority of his party leaders believed that there was no constitutional bar on Gen Musharraf seeking the second vote from these assemblies because the 1973 Constitution had no specific mention about the new assemblies.

Maulana, however, insisted that he had no such information and he was talking about the possibility of another army takeover on the basis of his ‘analysis of the political situation obtaining in the country’.

He was reminded of the mass movement against Gen Ayub Khan who handed power over to Gen Yahya Khan in 1969 and said the situation was fast leading to such a scenario in which one general might replace the other and the country’s affairs worsened.

“We have to save the country from such a situation and the best way (to do it) was that the opposition should show a little flexibility in its conduct. If we fail to save the situation and show rigidity, we should be prepared for the possibility of the fourth martial law. The rulers and the opposition are both facing a testing period and all sides will have to show political maturity and take sagacious decisions”.

Asked about the MMA’s relationship with the APDM, he said the six-party alliance had joined the greater coalition of the opposition as an alliance of parties which are already in an electoral alliance. —Correspondent