Refusing to be cowed down by the Opposition's threat to quit Parliament over the alleged flouting of rules by government ahead of local bodies polls, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that he had no intention to dissolve the national Parliament.
"As far as the opposition's threats are concerned, whoever wants to leave Parliament he or she is most welcome to do so. We will not be cowed down by their threats of resignation," he was quoted as telling a private TV channel.
"I know I can use Article 58 2(b) to dissolve Parliament but I won't do it," he said, claiming that he had introduced a strong democracy in the country along with political reforms.
His comments were in response to a resolution passed by an all party conference organised by Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, in which opposition parties, while alleging "pre-poll rigging" by his government, threatened to resign enmasse from the national assembly to register their protests.
Musharraf also refuted allegations that Pakistan was responsible for terrorist attacks in different countries.
"It is very disheartening when people blame Pakistan for terrorist activities in any part of the world. We have broken the backbone of Al Qaeda's network but still people blame us," he said.
Referring to the London bombings, he said, "it is true that the three were of Pakistani origin, and at least two had travelled to Pakistan on a number of occasions. But all four were brought up, educated and presumably radicalized in the United Kingdom. If the events of the last few years teach us anything about terrorism, it is that extremist terrorism, such as occurred last month, has nothing to do with an individual nation's identity."
