The President Tehreek-e-Istiqlal (TI) Rehmat Khan Wardag has charged the ARD and MMA leadership of pursuing negative political trends and expressed fear that it may result in wrapping up of the present democratic set-up.
He said their opposition to National Security Council (NSC) was on flimsy grounds, as otherwise the NSC would strengthen and safeguard the democratic system in the long run.
He was addressing a press conference at a hotel here on Monday.
The Senior Vice President Tehreek-e-Istiqlal (TI) Shad Mohammad Khan and member National Council M.Y.R. Bhatti were also present.
TI President referred to 56 years' history of Pakistan, in which politicians had made blunders and therefore, had paved way for army interventions in 1958, 1969, 1977 and 1999.
He said, armed forces of Pakistan were the last ray of hope for the nation and warned the MMA and ARD not to harm the institution.
He said, when President Pervez Musharraf took over on October 12, 1999, the country was at the brink of disaster and was likely to be declared a defaulter country.
"Today our foreign exchange reserves had shot up to more than dollars 12.5 billion and the per capita income would also reach dollars 600 by the end of 2004, which was due to the government's positive social and economic policies," he said.
Rehmat Khan Wardag said the regimes of former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto were responsible for the mass loot and plunder of national resources and the nation would not allow this to happen again.
He underlined the need for new reservoirs of water in the country.
He welcomed World Bank's offer to finance Kala Bagh Dam project and hoped that the government would kick-off the project after June-2004.
He further said 80 percent benefits from Kala Bagh Dam would be reaped by Sindh as it has been facing water shortage during different cropping seasons.
He also supported construction of small dams in the Saraiki belt of Rahimyar Khan, Sadiqabad, Khairpur Mir and Sehwan Sharif to overcome the water shortage and also to meet electricity needs.
TI President ridiculed MMA's stance on President's uniform and viewed that the uniform of Pervez Musharraf was an irrelevant issue at this stage.
He further observed that since MMA had started losing ground among the electorate, its leadership was now trying to make political gains on this issue.
He advised the ARD and MMA leadership to desist from the policy of confrontation, as Pakistan was facing tremendous dangers on internal and external fronts.
TI leader suggested reducing the term of parliament from 5 to 3 years and also reducing the age of retirement from 60 to 55 years to make way for fresh blood.
He also called for developing cottage and home industries in the rural areas, by advancing them liberal loans to meet the WTO restrictions which would come into force with effect from 2005.
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