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Opposition plans en masse resignation

ISLAMABAD: With Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s nomination for the October 6 presidential elections through, opposition parties are now working on their own strategies to block him from obtaining another term.

The All Party Democracy Movement (APDM) is planning to resign en masse from the Assemblies and dissolve the North West Frontier Province Assembly on October 2, a strategy that could undermine the credibility and possibly the legality of the presidential election.

Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, which has put up party vice-chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim as a candidate, continued to maintain that it was “considering all options”, including joining the other opposition parties in the resignation strategy.

The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)’s Javed Hashmi said the APDM would stick by the resignation strategy.

The MMA government in NWFP is also to move for dissolution of the Assembly on October 2, in order to render the electoral college incomplete. For dissolution, the Chief Minister must write to the Governor. If the Governor does not act on his request, the Assembly would stand dissolved in 48 hours.

However, the plan may run up against a pre-emptive move by Gen. Musharraf’s Pakistan Muslim League (Q), which is in the opposition in the NWFP Assembly, and its allies.

If this group of opposition legislators manages to move a no-confidence motion against the MMA government, the Chief Minister is constitutionally bound not to dissolve the Assembly. The PML (Q) has said it is considering a no-confidence motion.

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