Oppn to resign from Assembly to block Musharraf

Parliamentarians of almost all opposition parties in Pakistan have decided to resign from the National Assembly to block General Pervez Musharraf's re-election as president for another term, but are not willing to quit the Senate, a leading daily reported here today.

The Senate is an important part of the president's electoral college. If the opposition members decide to resign from the House, the daily claimed, the government would not be able to fill the vacant seats due to the dissolution of the provincial assemblies "" the electoral college for the Senate.

"Why should we give up our gains in the Senate after the 2002 elections?" asked both Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Senator Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Information Secretary of deposed premier Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (N) Ahsan Iqbal. "Nobody knows what results the next general elections will produce," Iqbal was quoted as saying.

However, Ahmed said the religious alliance was not leaving the Senate as it had its eyes on the future. "If the next Parliament and assemblies decide to impeach the sitting president, our Senators can play an important role," he said.

Opposition Leader in the Senate, Mian Raza Rabbani, is also opposed to the idea of resigning from the Senate. The Pakistan People's Party stalwart said they believed there should be at least one forum where they could raise their issues after the dissolution of the assemblies. "There is a broad understanding among the opposition parties that at least one constitutional body should be kept intact for any future development," he said.

He, however, said that his party members would not hesitate to resign from the Senate "if they are asked to do so by the party leadership."

Meanwhile, Pakistan's lawyer community has nominated a retired Supreme Court judge, Wajihuddin Ahmad, as its candidate in the October 6 presidential election.

"Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmad will file his nomination before the Election Commission by Thursday," announced a former chief of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Tariq Mehmood, at the Supreme Court building, the Dawn newspaper reported.