Islamabad: Pakistan's pro-Musharraf ruling alliance has threatened to prolong the terms of National and Provincial Assemblies if the Opposition carried out its threat to resign in order to thwart the army ruler's plan to get re-elected by the same Assemblies.
"The Government would extend the term of the Assemblies and hold by-polls to fill the vacancies," Chief Minister of Punjab province Pervez Elahi said reacting to threats by Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) members to resign if Musharraf went ahead with his plans.
Elahi, who is the brother of ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q President Shujat Hussain, told ruling party legislators in Lahore on Monday that constitution does not bar Parliament from re-electing the President. "One thing is clear. The Assembly would re-elect President Pervez Musharraf as president-in-uniform," he was quoted as saying in the media on Tuesday.
Opposition parties object to re-election as the same Assemblies elected Musharraf as President in 2003. However, the Government argues that President needed to be re-elected before his term ends by November next year where as the general elections can only held early 2008.
Elahi said if the Opposition chose to resign now, the government would extend the tenure of Assemblies till 2008 and hold by-elections on the seats vacated by members of opposition to maintain the continuity of the democratic process.
"Under the Constitution, elections can be held at any time till 2008," he said.
Meanwhile, Jamat-e-Islami's decision to collect resignation letters of its legislators to prevent them from taking part in the voting in Presidential elections has caused a strain in the Islamist alliance, the Muthahida Majlis Amal. MMA's dominant partner, Jamate Ulema Islami, (JUI) said it is only JI's decision and it many not follow suit. JUI Chief and MMA General Secretary, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has distanced himself from JI leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed's statements.
"The proposal to resign from parliament was discussed in the MMA Supreme Council meeting, but taking resignations from JI parliamentarians at this stage was the sole decision of Qazi Hussain Ahmed," Rehman said.
"My prime concern is that if someone shows his cards too soon, he may lose every thing," he said.
Rehman, who is also designated as the opposition leader in the National Assembly, also criticised ARD threat to impeach Musharraf and move a no confidence vote against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz if they did not resign by July 31.
The move was ‘one-sided’ and made without consultation with the MMA, he said adding "the decision shows the ARD leadership wants to fight the war against the government inside parliament and does not want to bring it to the streets.
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