KARACHI, 22 November 2003 — MQM leader Altaf Hussain has said Pakistan’s opposition parties are promoting dangerous divisions.
Speaking at a ceremony here yesterday, he said by focusing on matters like the Legal Framework Order and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s military uniform, the opposition parties were fueling divisions in Pakistan. Religious opposition parties ought instead to focus on the “multitude” of Pakistan’s problems, both internal and external, and work for national cohesion, he said. This demanded vision and insight, he added.
Among the external challenges facing Islamabad were disagreements with India, Afghanistan and even Iran, while internally it struggled with lack of investment and consequent unemployment and poverty. Hussain said he was “saddened” by the actions of opposition, particularly the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal. The MMA had “too many faces.” While at the national level it was hostile to the LFO and the president’s uniform, in Balochistan and NWFP, where it was itself in government, it conveniently overlooked these issues.
