Source: Daily Times 

* Achakzai says martial law still prevails in form of NSC

By Manzoor Ali Shah

PESHAWAR: Pakhtoonkhawa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai said on Friday that the people of Pakistan had voted against the dictatorship and that now President Pervez Musharraf should admit defeat and resign.

Addressing a news briefing after a two-day meeting of his party in Peshawar, he said that the public had rejected those people who were with Musharraf and that the public verdict must be honoured.

He said that if the election winners had promised the restoration of sacked judges, the restoration of the constitution in its original form, the end of agencies and the military’s role in politics and the establishment of an independent election commission, they must honour it.

Achakzai said that if the incoming government fulfilled these demands, then the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (Ponam), Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the people would cooperate with the government and would not accept anything less. He said that the country was passing through tough times, adding that martial law still prevailed despite the elections in the form of the National Security Council (NSC) and the 17th Amendment that had rendered the parliament useless.

He said that all parties had agreed that the military should have no role in politics and that the parliament should hold supremacy.

The PkMAP leader said that according to Article 190 of the Constitution, every institution of the state was bound to follow Supreme Court’s decisions, and that the confinement of judges was a treachery against the constitution.

He added that now it is the duty of the public to defend the verdict of the judiciary. Achakzai said that true democracy would not prevail in the country unless the people’s voice was behind the formulation of foreign and internal policies. He said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had allowed 30 days for the restoration of the sacked judges, but that he would give them 40 days, and assured the parties that he would be responsibility for Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad and would make sure that he did not create problems in this regard. Reffering to by-election, Achakzai said his party would not participate in any elections until Pakistan becomes a democracy in a true sense. He added that he considered it a sin to participate in such elections.

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Tags: Constitution, dictatorship, Musharraf, PkMAP, Ponam, Vote