Islamabad, Nov 19: After the defeat of its candidate in today's election of the speaker of the newly elected National Assembly, Pakistan's hardline Islamist alliance MMA said that it has decided to sit in the opposition.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has decided to sit on the Opposition benches as President Pervez Musharraf's government did not agreed to the six-party alliance's demands, its parliamentary leader Qazi Hussain Ahmad told reporters after the election of the speaker.
He said that the alliance would also not support the pro-Musharraf PML-Q in forming the government.
PML-Q's Chaudhary Amir Hussain was elected speaker of the National Assembly receiving 167 votes out of 325 ballots cast.
Ahmad said, "Our demands have not been fulfilled so there is no point to further continue the negotiations regarding formation of government with the other political parties."
He said that the MMA has differences with PML-Q on legal frame work order which legalised the Musharraf's election through a referendum and conferred sweeping powers to Musharraf.
Earlier, another MMA leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad said that his party still maintained that Musharraf should be be elected as president by the Parliament and the constitutional amendments brought in the present government be approved by two-third majority in the Parliament.
On the 15-party alliance for restoration of democracy's decision to support MMA's prime ministerial candidate Maulana Fazlur Rehman, he said that parties in the ARD should respect the decision taken by its leader two weeks ago. MMA is ready to accept ARD support if all the parties in the alliance supported it, he added.
Bureau Report
