APDM threatens protest if Musharraf not removed

APDM convenor Mehmood Khan Achakzai said the grouping would meet again in the first week of July to chalk out its future course of action.

The APDM would not rest till Musharraf is removed and the deposed judges restored, Achakzai told a joint news conference with Imran Khan and Jamaat chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed.

The grouping threatened that it would launch a civil disobedience movement if Musharraf did not quit and the sacked judges not restored.

Its leaders said people had rejected the unconstitutional steps of Musharraf during the February 18 general election and given a mandate to the current government to reject all the illegal steps taken by the President.

In a communique issued at the end of a two-day national conference, the APDM said that an agreement signed by the PPP and PML-N in March to form a coalition was the result of people’s pressure.

However, it said the constitutional reforms package drawn up by the PPP was a delaying tactic and sought reinstatement of the sacked judges through an executive order.

The APDM alleged that the new government was acting ‘in connivance with Musharraf’ to limit and control the restoration of the deposed judges.

The communique criticised the constitutional reforms package and termed it an attempt to ‘validate the illegal actions’ of Musharraf during the emergency and to the make judiciary subordinate to the government.

The APDM also called for ceasing military operations in Balochistan, Swat and the tribal areas and stopping the killing of innocent people.

It sought an inquiry into the killing of Baloch nationalist leaders Nawab Akbar Bugti and Balaach Marri.

The communique also urged the government to trace all people who had gone missing after being detained by security and intelligence agencies in the past few years.

The influence of the APDM has dwindled after the PML-N quit the grouping earlier this year following differences over boycotting the general election. The other parties in the APDM did not participate in the polls.