KARACHI, 29 November 2004 — Pakistan’s powerful Islamist parties staged a massive rally here yesterday to kick-start a campaign to force President Pervez Musharraf to quit as army chief.
Thousands of people packed the Nishtar Park venue which echoed with anti-US and anti-Musharraf slogans from supporters of the six-party Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance. It will be followed next month by rallies in the central city of Multan, eastern Lahore and finally in Rawalpindi, adjoining Islamabad, on Dec. 19.
The rally was also attended by local leaders of the secular opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of former Premier Benazir Bhutto and ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) faction.
“We are here on MMA’s invitation. It is a good omen. This rally will become a launching pad for the anti-Musharraf movement,” PPP leader Rashid Rabbani said.
The rally was addressed by MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed and its secretary-general, Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
“I have no doubt in my mind that people will force Musharraf to quit as army chief by the end of our first phase on Dec. 19,” MMA chief Ahmed said.
“If Musharraf did not quit one post I am afraid he will lose both,” he said ahead of the gathering.
Fazlur Rehman lashed out at the president saying that “Musharraf may like to become a US slave but no Pakistani would accept US slavery”. “Musharraf must announce by Dec. 19 that he will quit as army chief otherwise he will face a combined movement by all political parties,” Fazlur Rehman told the gathering. Pakistan’s Parliament early this month adopted a bill allowing Musharraf to remain as army chief, less than 12 months after he admitted that leading both the nation and the military was undemocratic.
— Additional input from Agence France Presse
