Hussain resigns from parliament

Islamabad: The head of the alliance of six Islamic parties, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, formally presented his resignation from the National Assembly to the secretariat of the lower house of the parliament in Islamabad yesterday.

In his resignation letter, the Mutahidda Majlis Amal (MMA) chief said he was quitting his parliamentary seat in protest against the way the country was being run by an individual according to his whims, an apparent reference to President Pervez Musharraf.

Ahmad said the parliament had been turned into a rubber stamp and the gulf between people and the military was widening as a result of the military operations in northwestern tribal areas and the recent assault on the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, in Islamabad.

According to official figures more than 100 people, including 11 security personnel, were killed when army commandoes stormed the Red Mosque and its adjoining Jamia Hafsa seminary on July 10 to flush out militants holed up in the compound.

The MMA president, who was elected to the National Assembly from Nowshera in the North West Frontier Province in the 2002 general election, said it would be an injustice to the people if he were to continue sitting in the parliament in the prevailing circumstances.

Ahmad, who is also head of the Jamaat-e-Islami, sparked criticism of his resignation by the other major MMA component, Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) party.

JUI leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who is also MMA secretary general and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, told a private channel that Ahmad's resignation was an individual action contrary to the discipline of the alliance.

Rehman, known to be a relatively moderate politician compared to hard line posturing of the MMA president, described the resignation as an incorrect decision.

Opposition leaders cranked up the pressure on Musharraf yesterday, after doubts were cast over his re-election plans by the Supreme Court's reinstatement of a judge seen as a symbol of resistance.

Campaign

The All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM), which groups major opposition parties except ex-premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), announced yesterday it would launch a nationwide anti-Musharraf campaign from August 9.

Also in further fallout from Friday's Supreme Court decision to reinstate the chief justice after over four months of suspension, the government's top lawyer, Attorney-General Makhdoom Ali Khan, has resigned, a senior official said.

US ally Musharraf controversially aims to be re-elected by the current assemblies in September or October, but is going through his rockiest period in power.

He is also constitutionally obliged to give up his role as army chief by the year-end, while parliamentary elections are expected by December or January.

There are fears in government that Supreme Court judges, having asserted the independence of the judiciary by restoring the chief justice, could allow constitutional challenges to Musharraf's re-election, resulting in a political gridlock.

The opposition is expected to challenge Musharraf's right to get elected by the same assemblies, and while still army chief.

Bhutto, whose PPP is the single largest opposition party, has been in talks with Musharraf's emissaries for months, however, about the possibility of reaching a power-sharing deal.

She said Musharraf was weakened by the Supreme Court's decision, and allying with him could cost her votes.

"He has lost his moral authority. His popularity rates are down and it would be very unpopular if we saved him," Bhutto said.