After giving support to the ruling coalition on 17h Amendment, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) on Friday demanded of President General Pervez Musharraf to shed his military outfit to become a 'civilian President'.
Acting MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed told newsmen here at his E-7 residence that Musharraf should doff his uniform as soon as possible to put at rest 'confusion' in the military.
"Honourable way for Musharraf now is to quit as COAS, after taking the vote of confidence, as in uniform MMA can't accept him as a constitutional President," he said.
He asserted his (Musharraf) holding of two slots was seen as a hurdle in the restoration of complete democracy.
Qazi contended that exiled PPP and PML leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif would find it easy to return, provided Musharraf set aside uniform. He was of the view that the resolution of the crisis would benefit the entire opposition.
He called on Alliance for Restoration of Democracy to shun confrontation with MMA and focus on the government instead.
Qazi pointed out that ARD also shared commonality on 22 articles of LFO but afterwards it suspended parleys with the government.
ARD and other opposition groups in the Parliament, dubbing MMA as 'friendly opposition', have demanded separate seating arrangements.
They contended, after compromising on its principle stand on LFO and the uniformed President, MMA was no more part of combined opposition.
Acting upon MMA's proposal, he claimed, Musharraf agreed to take the vote of confidence from the Parliament and four provincial assemblies.
"We had clearly told the government that Musharraf as President through referendum was not acceptable," he added.
In reply to a question, he described all military interventions as unconstitutional and laid emphasis on strengthening of the State institutions.
He defended support to the ruling coalition on the 17th Amendment, saying MMA compelled the military junta to bring Legal Framework Order as a constitutional package in the Parliament for approval.
Qazi brushed aside the impression that the religious parties' alliance had accepted LFO as a constitutional document.
"We enabled the government to pass the amendment bill by a two-thirds majority to end constitutional imbroglio," he remarked.
To a question, MMA chief said that gone were the days when a president would use 58-2/b to pack the assemblies so easily, adding the present assemblies were different from the past assemblies.
About the confidence building measures between Pakistan and India, he said Islamabad had deliberately announced the cease-fire to facilitate India to erect barbed wire along the Line of Control.
MMA chief demanded of the United States to stop interference in the country's international affairs. He also asked FBI to pack up.
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