Qazi not to attend donors conference, Fazl undecided

Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) President Qazi Hussain Ahmed on Friday decided not to participate in the donors conference on November 19.
However, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who is also MMA's Secretary General, was undecided about his taking part in the moot till the filing of this report.
"The MMA will have no objection, if Maulana Fazlur Rehman in his capacity as opposition leader attends the conference," MMA Spokesman Shahid Shamsi told Business Recorder.
He said that Qazi Hussain Ahmed in his personal capacity had decided to boycott it and he had conveyed to the MMA leaders to make up their mind on their own.
Explaining reason for the boycott, Pakistan Peoples' Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) Secretary General Raja Pervaiz Ashraf told Business Recorder that the ARD leadership took the decision in view of the rulers' bypassing the Parliament and political parties on the quake-related issues.
"At a time, when all the policies have been formulated and decisions taken, there is no reason for the ARD component parties to be part of the moot," he maintained.
He said the ARD leaders during telephonic conversations had decided with consensus to stay away from the moot and their decision was based on principles.
The PPPP leader, however, was quick to wish success of the moot, adding that the opposition would continue demanding a viable transparent mechanism for the utilisation of the aid being accumulated locally and internationally.
"Our demand is that the government should take the Parliament and its members into confidence about the post-quake relief and rehabilitation operations," Raja Pervaiz said. NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani of MMA had attended the last National Security Council (NSC) meeting to discuss the aftermath of the quake.
Durrani had attended the NSC meeting to end the MMA's about a yearlong boycott of the body.
The MMA wants the NSC to be headed by the prime minister and not by a president in uniform and insists that its status should be of an advisory body and not of a decision-making entity.