Pakistan has a controlled democracy where the parliament is a rubber stamp, the Constitution has been put into "cold storage" and people are being repressed, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman told the Qarwan-e-Jamhoriat, an anti-government campaign launched by the MMA on Wednesday. Fazl said the government was trying to hurry along the local council elections because it feared the MMA's growing popularity. He said that President Pervez Musharraf was acting on the United States' and anti-Islamic policies, adding that vulgarity was being promoted in the name of "enlightened moderation" and the MMA and the Pakistani people would "stop Musharraf's conspiracy against Islamic values." The MMA's campaign started from Chakwal and several vehicles with thousands of people participated in protest against President Musharraf. MMA campaigners said that Musharraf should quit the office of president and new presidential elections, under the Constitution, should be held to restore the democracy and the supremacy of parliament. Besides Fazl, MMA leaders Prof Sajid Mir, Liaqat Baloch, Allam Abdul Jalil Naqvi, MNA Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, MNA Qari Gull Rehman, Maulana Abdullah Khan of Bhakkar and MNA Abul Khair Zubair attended the public gathering. Jamiatul Hadith leader Prof Sajid Mir called for the immediate establishment of an impartial election commission and general elections, adding that power should be transferred to genuinely elected representatives.