Ahead of Pakistan's October six Presidential poll in which Pervez Musharraf is seeking re-election, police detained several top opposition leaders as Premier Shaukat Aziz threatened to extend by one year the tenure of assemblies if lawmakers resign in protest against the General's second term.
Several leaders of the All Parties Democratic Movement headed by exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party were detained late Saturday night as they planned to stage a demonstration outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad on Monday against Musharraf's bid to contest election in uniform.
Those detained included PML-N president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, party MP Tehmina Daultana and senior leader of the Islamic alliance Muthahida Majlis Amal Hafiz Hussain
Ahmed. They were served the detention orders at their apartments in Parliament Lodges in Islamabad, officials said.
Mohammad Aslam, another MMA member of National Assembly, lower house of Parliament, was picked up from his residence and taken to the Adiyala jail.
A police party raided the house of MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed, but failed to arrest him as he had already left the place, Dawn reported. Another police team tried to arrest Syed Mohammad Bilal, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Islamabad.
Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema, an Interior Ministry spokesman, confirmed that the police raid took place, saying the government had taken the step to maintain law and order in the wake of a call by APDM to besiege the Supreme Court, which is expected to return a verdict on Tuesday on petitions against Musharraf's re-election plans and his dual post of President and Army Chief.
A handout issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad Police stated that 'in view of calls given by certain elements of political parties of taking out processions on roads and adjacent to sensitive public buildings, pre-emptive arrests have been initiated.'
It further said: 'Keeping in view the sensitive security environment and for maintenance of tranquility and security of public, certain leaders encouraging unregulated and unlawful public assembly have been detained under the MPO (Maintenance of Public Order).'
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Aziz held out a threat of extension of the term of the national and provincial assemblies by a year if opposition legislators resigned.
He indicated this when he discussed the strategy for the upcoming presidential election with the ruling PML-Q members, the newspaper reported.
Responding to concerns expressed by some PML-Q members over the evolving political scenario after the planned return of self-exiled former Premier Benazir Bhutto on October 18 and threat by her PPP party that its legislators would quit assemblies if Musharraf seeks re-election in uniform, Aziz told them that they should not worry about it.
The government would deal with the situation when she returns, Aziz was quoted as saying by Dawn.
Parties in the APDM alliance have decided to quit assemblies on September 28 if Musharraf's nomination papers are accepted.
PPP, which earlier was not inclined to quit in view of Bhutto's talks with Musharraf on a possible power-sharing deal, threatened to direct its legislators to resign if Musharraf failed to shed uniform and annul a rule barring politicians from becoming prime minister for third time.
The rule, introduced in 2002, bars Bhutto and Sharif from holding the post again as they previously held it twice.