ARD rejects road map to democracy

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, AUG. 16. The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), a conglomerate of 16-odd parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League and the Pakistan People's Party, today rejected the ``road map to revival of democracy'', unveiled by the Pakistan President and military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf. At an emergency meeting of the Alliance meeting in Lahore, a number of resolutions were adopted demanding immediate end to the ban on political activities and a schedule for immediate elections.

The ARD chairman, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, told correspondents after the meeting that there was no justification in delaying the polls till October 2002, though the Supreme Court had given him time till next year.

The announcement by Gen. Musharraf that the elections would be preceded by amendments in the Constitution to introduce checks and balances in the system to prevent the future set-up from overstepping its authority has largely been interpreted by the political parties as an attempt to give extraordinary powers to the President and reduce the office of the Prime Minister to a mere puppet.

Silence over how Gen. Musharraf intended to continue in power as the President once the general elections are completed has only added to the suspicions of the political and religious parties.

``It appears that these announcements have come under international pressure as the Harare session of the Commonwealth had called upon the military government to restore democracy within two years and its cut-off date is October 12, 2001,'' Mr. Nasrullah Khan, said.

Reacting to the Jamaat-e-Islami chief, Quazi Hussain Ahmed, he said the experience of holding local bodies under the supervision of the military government had clearly brought out the need for installing a caretaker government for conducting elections to the provincial and national assemblies.

In a separate statement, the PPP led by the former Prime Minister, Ms. Benazir Bhutto, said that the party was concerned about the General's plan of bringing constitutional amendments before elections.

It said that any attempt to amend the Constitution in a manner other than what the Constitution permitted would endanger the federation.

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Section  : International
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