*Interesting, though the very last bolded statement is quite contradicting, neverthless Great Zardari is making good progress… *
ISLAMABAD: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has shown its conditional willingness not only to impeach President Musharraf but also try him, only if all those who ever abrogated the Constitution in the country are also tried.
Member of the Rabita Committee and MQM central leader Haider Abbas Rizvi told The News the Muttahida would never support the impeachment motion in parliament if it is meant only to target Pervez Musharraf but if the federal government devised a strategy to punish all those who abrogated the Constitution, the MQM would support it.
The condition put forward by the MQM matches the manifesto and basic objectives of the PPP, which clearly state that all those who abrogated the Constitution at any time must be punished.
“Not only those who abrogated the Constitution but also those who supported them in doing so should also be prosecuted under the law and just one person should not be attacked,” Haider Abbas Rizvi said.
**
He added: “If the government will move forward to try all those conspirators who abrogated or supported the abrogation, the MQM would definitely support the government in not only impeaching Musharraf but also trying all the former Army men involved in such heinous crimes.” Haider Abbas Rizvi clarified the MQM never supported dictators in the past and it will not do so now.**
Zardari initially said that the ANP and MQM had reservations about the impeachment, and ANP rebutted by saying they dont. Now the MQM has agreed to it too... Zardari is running out of excuses.
Thats the problem with certain people, they term others juhla if a news report is not to their liking… Think about it, two days ago Zardari said he couldnt impeach Mushy because the ANP and MQM were against it, and both have clarified that they arent, so Zardari is running out of options. As time passes, he will be forced to either declare support for Musharraf, or eat his words.
Thats the problem with certain people, they term others juhla if a news report is not to their liking... Think about it, two days ago Zardari said he couldnt impeach Mushy because the ANP and MQM were against it, and both have clarified that they arent, so Zardari is running out of options. As time passes, he will be forced to either declare support for Musharraf, or eat his words.
it's not about liking or disliking spocky. what MQM says actually supports Musharaf, they are asking for trying EVERY "conspirators who abrogated (read ZIa) or supported (Read NS, CHoudhry Brothers, Shaikh Rasheed etc etc) the abrogation" and we know it very well that it's not gonna happen (since that is not the issue at the moment). Hence although they "SUPPORTED" the impeachment of Musharaf, they also tied it with something utterly impossible for Zardari & NS to do. And when the time will come, they will simply say that the don't support action against only one person. The issue here is impeachment of Musharaf, no one has guts to dig out history and try each and every dictator in Pakistan's history.
Zardari ki fiqr baad mai karna, pehlai jo MQM keh rhe hai wo tu samajh lo.
K Khan, I dont think either Musharraf alone, or along with his role models (Zia etc) will be tried, but the point here is, Zardari is running out of excuses now. Both the MQM and ANP immediately issued out these statements when Zardari said they had reservations about Musharrafs impeachment. Now I know for a fact how much the pseudo dictator Altaf Hussain loves Musharraf, but he remains mum about his support now, and doesnt defend him vocally as he used to because he knows that politically its a huge risk siding with Musharraf. If anything, this exposes the hypocrisy and double standards of the MQM and shows Zardari is making pathetic excuses.
Another interesting move, Zardari is moving to get the JI’s support in the upper house :hehe:
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) are entering into a new “understanding” under which both parties would facilitate each other in the upper house of parliament, The News has learnt through reliable sources.
Mian Raza Rabbani has been tasked by PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to win support of other parties, as the PPP and its allied parties lack the strength to pass any legislation in the Senate, added sources.
“In a smart political move, Raza Rabbani has won over the support of JI parliamentary leader in the Senate Prof Khurshid Ahmad and both are in constant touch for the last few weeks,” said sources.
The understanding also aims at keeping the MQM, the PPP’s coalition partner in Sindh, under pressure as the JI and the MQM are adversaries, they added. As a confidence-building measure, sources added, the PPP has facilitated Prof Khurshid by allocating him the office designated to the Chief Whip of the treasury party, in complete violation of the rules, as the JI leader has no portfolio and does not fulfil the requirements for such a privileged favour. Previously, this office was allocated to PML-Q Chief Whip Kamil Ali Agha.
In return, they said, Prof Khurshid on Wednesday sent the first positive message to the PPP leadership by not stressing the recommendation he had made to the National Assembly that the proposed one per cent increase in the general sales tax and the central excise duty be withdrawn. The resolution was moved only a day earlier by Prof Khurshid while Col (retd) Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of the MQM and Chaudhry Anwar Bhinder of the PML-Q had endorsed it.
Sources said though Prof Khurshid moved the resolution and asked the other opposition parties to join it on Tuesday, the very next morning he changed his tone and told his companions that he was no interested in pressing the move.
Sources said the astonished PML-Q and the MQM wanted to carry on with the motion. However, they also did not press it as “they did not want to create any division within the opposition parties”.
“The opposition enjoys a clear majority and had it press on the motion, the move would have been carried and the nation would have got rid of the GST increase,” said sources, adding petty political motives came over the public interest.
This reflects the JI leadership is fast loosing its grip over party affairs, as it has no representation in the National Assembly due to its boycott of the general elections while the Senate is the only forum where it has significant number of MPs.
The move had come after the PPP efforts to create a forward bloc in the PML-Q had been dashed, as the PML-Q senators had not rebelled against the party in large numbers. When contacted, leader of the house in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani confirmed that there was an “understanding” between the JI and the PPP which was “due to the long struggle they jointly launched against President Musharraf and the PML-Q regime”.
“Yes, there is an understanding between both parties and this development is due to the personal respect of each other. Prof Khurshid, who leads an independent group in the opposition, has a constructive approach and we have decided to interact mutually on issue-to-issue basis,” he said.
Regarding allotment of office to Prof Khurshid, Mian Raza Rabbani said the JI leader had raised the issue in a business advisory meeting that he needed an office, as he was representing an independent opposition group in the Senate.
“I did not oppose the move due to the personal esteem I had for him. Rather, I asked the Senate chairman to allocate the room allocated for the Chief Whip of our party as we have yet to appoint one for the post. Moreover, I told the chairman we would arrange another room for our Chief Whip when and if needed,” he added.
When asked whether the favour was a political payoff, Rabbani said, “I would put it another way. This is correct that the group of nine has a special relation with us. This was their party decision not to take part in the general elections. Had they taken part in the elections, results would have been different and they might had been our coalition partners. We have understanding over certain issues as we have the same stance against President Musharraf and other issues,” he said.
When approached, opposition leader in the upper house Kamil Ali Agha said the move to withdraw one per cent GST aimed at facilitating the poor masses. “We had told the treasury that the one per cent GST would buy them Rs26 billion. We proposed them to drop the idea as it would cost the poor dearly. We also proposed that if they could impose capital gain or direct tax on the stock brokers, it would provide them Rs40 billion and would not affect the poor,” he said.
He added the treasury gave an undertaking that they would review the decision if the income flows keep an upward momentum. “This argument did not plead us. However, Prof Khurshid Ahmad found himself convinced enough and he requested us not to press the motion,” he added.
When this scribe sought his comments over the allotment of the office to Prof Khurshid, he offered no comments. When The News contacted Prof Khurshid Ahmad, he said no business could run without an “understanding between the stakeholders”.
“You see, we have a declared policy. We are part of an independent opposition group in the Senate and I am the leader of the group,” he added. When asked whether the allotment of a prestigious office meant for Chief whip of the treasury was a favour and against the country’s parliamentary traditions, the JI leader said he had no information that the office allotted to him belonged to the chief whip.
“This was decided with the consent of Senate chairman, leader of the house and leader of the opposition. The facility allotted to me is in line with the parliamentary traditions of India and other countries,” he concluded.
someone who was given birth in dictatorial regime, thrived under Musharraf, supported him by show of power on May 12, 2007, sure MQM doesn’t support dictators and never will.
Probably they never heard about this universally accepted principle:
“You can never justify one wrong with another wrong.”
If they were principled they should have said " we want to impeach and try Musharraf and also try all those who ever abrogated the constitution"…instead of “we want to impeach and try Musharraf only if all those who ever abrogated the constitution are also tried…”
But then talking about MQM and principles…double nuff…
someone who was given birth in dictatorial regime, thrived under Musharraf, supported him by show of power on May 12, 2007, sure MQM doesn’t support dictators and never will.