20000317

Govt has banned political rallies, not politicians, says Moin

T A MALIK

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Lt-Gen Moin Uddin Haider (Retd) on Thursday said the government has no plan to bar politicians but ban on political meetings, strikes and processions in public places would continue indefinitely.

Addressing a press conference here, he said that the step has been taken to ensure security and prosperity of the citizens.

He, however, said that if any politician was found guilty of corruption, misappropriation of funds and other irregularities and disqualified by the courts would not be allowed to take part in the politics.

He said that the Constitution is held in abeyance, military is in power and there is no need for political rallies and processions in the country. The country cannot afford the luxury of agitation and violence.

He said that the government's political reform agenda - strengthening constitutional institutions and transparent accountability - is an earnest attempt to pull the country back from precipice. Attainment of the goals set forth in this agenda require serious and sustained effort by all Pakistanis, with full commitment to building up social and economic strength, in an environment of peace and order, he added.

Talking about restoration of democracy, he said that the process of restoration of democracy would be started through local bodies' election, which would be held by the end of this year. Chief Executive General Musharraf would announce the devolution of power formula on March 23.

He said the government will introduce a new political system which will strengthen the democratic institutions and there will be no breakdown in future after short period of two or three years.

The Minister said that there are no ban on indoor political gatherings, meetings and issuance of political statements and politicians point of view through media.

He said that the strike calls by a political party in Sindh has created unrest in the business community and disrupted the economic activity in the country. He said Pakistanis are peace-loving and do not want strikes, rallies and processions because they know the past of the political parties.

He said that the political parties should spend their time on the reforms of their party's manifesto, review there past performance and their failure to resolve the problems of the general public.

Moin said the political parties are our assets and the government has no intention to destabilise them.

To a question about local bodies' election, he said that the election would be held under the new voters list and NADRA has started work on finalising new lists. The lists of more than 20 out of 102 districts of the country would be completed by the end of November this year and the process of election would be initiated in phases.

To a question about Clinton's visit, he said that security arrangements are fool-proof and there is no programme to sign CTBT during his visit.

He said that India has tried its level best to get Clinton's visit cancelled and declare Pakistan as terrorist state.

He said that the recent bomb blasts in the country, murder of Iqbal Raad, hijacking drama, Naval plane blast and some other terrorist activities were the part of such Indian plan.

Another question about press, he said that there is no ban on press to publish political statements, performance and faults of the governments and criticism on policies. He said that the press should pay its responsibilities and avoid misreporting.

Citing the examples of misreporting that he said the news the government has planned to cut 50 percent staff of the PTCL was baseless and misleading. Similarly the news about the staff of Pak Steel Mills too was misreporting as the management has ousted the ghost, inefficient and corrupt officers after following the proper procedures, he added.