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LAHORE, Oct 25: The Pakistan People’s Party has expressed serious doubts about the military regime’s sincerity to hold general elections by October next year, as ordained by the Supreme Court, saying it had not yet launched a preparatory work it was supposed to initiate some seven weeks ago.
Party’s acting secretary-general Reza Rabbani said while talking to Dawn at the office of provincial information secretary Naveed Chaudhry that there was no guarantee of the government adhering to the deadline set by the apex court even if the PPP showed some flexibility in its demand for immediate elections.
“I substantiate my fears on the basis that no preparatory work for the elections is in hand, nor an independent and autonomous Election Commission has been appointed, nor has the democratic process been restored”.
President Musharraf had reiterated in an interview on Monday that he had no plan to advance the election date and would hold the election in October next year, as pledged earlier.
The PPP leader said the roadmap given by the regime envisaged the commencement of the second phase of the democratic process from Sept, 2001, and completion by July next year. In the process, delimitation of constituencies, provision of computerised national ID cards to all voters and updating of the electoral rolls were to be carried out. But, he said, from September till now, the end of October, not a paper had been moved in the said direction, he regretted.
He did not agree with the suggestion that the PPP, too, did not appear prepared for the elections.
The PPP was the largest party of the country, Mr Rabbani said, and by its historical culture it was simultaneously prepared to wage a peaceful struggle for democracy and to switch its role from a struggle to an election campaign. The PPP was in the process of undertaking evaluation of constituencies and preparing a new manifesto, he pointed out.
Asked if the party was prepared to go to the elections with its chairperson Benazir Bhutto still abroad, Mr Rabbani said: “This notion, perception and concept has been outrightly rejected by the PPP and the masses”.
He said since the death of PPP founder chairman Z.A. Bhutto the establishment had been trying to make wages between the party and Ms Benazir Bhutto. However, all attempts failed as the party firmly stood behind her like a rock.
“But what if the government does not allow Ms Bhutto to contest the elections, as and when they are held?”, he was asked.
The PPP leader said: “This question is premature and the party will take an appropriate decision at time of elections. I don’t foresee such an eventuality because pressure of the masses and working classes for her return is on the increase”.
He said: “Deterioration in the law and order situation, coupled with the economic pressures, strengthened further by the mounting pressure of the right wing fundamentalists, is creating a situation where history is being forced to repeat itself when yet again a Bhutto (Ms Benazir) will be called upon to build and strengthen the federation”.
Replying to a question, Mr Rabbani said that the PPP had taken a firm decision that Ms Bhutto would return to Pakistan before the next elections. However, a date for her return would be decided by party’s central executive committee keeping in mind the objective situation.
He answered in the negative when asked if the PPP’s support to the military regime’s policy on Afghanistan would not lessen pressure on it for the elections.
“As far as the question of terrorism is concerned, there’s only a commonality of approach between the PPP and the government. This does not mean that we have given up our position for holding immediate free, fair and transparent elections”.
“To the contrary”, Mr Rabbani said, “the present situation has added impetus and given a sense of urgency to our demand for elections because the party believes that the present grave national crisis can only be resolved by a democratically elected government which can withstand, and negotiate with, international pressures and build a national consensus —- possible only through a political dialogue —- and then translate this national will into public force through mobilization of the masses at all levels and strata of Pakistani society”.
Mr Rabbani said the unfolding of events externally, coupled with growing pressures along with the increase in polarization, both vertical and horizontal, creation of a political vacuum since Oct 12, 1999, and its perpetuation, were giving rise to a serious situation detrimental to internal security as extremist, ethnic, sectarian and fundamentalist forces were scrambling to fill the vacuum.
Then, he said, the government was selective in the implementation of law with religious parties free to express their views in public and mainstream parties like the PPP disallowed to hold rallies even to express solidarity with the people.
“Thus the imperatives of national security, unity of the federation, preservation of civil society and safeguarding the liberal Pakistani way of life make it necessary that elections should be held sooner rather than later”.
He said the ARD, of which the PPP is a component, was not satisfied with the outer limit —- October 2002 —- set by the Supreme Court for the present government to complete the electoral process.
He said the Afghanistan situation could not be allowed to hold democracy hostage for the second time. “History has examples of several developed as well as third world countries which did not block the electoral process even during serious national crises”.
He said collective decisions taken through parliament were always better.
In response to a question, the PPP acting secretary-general said the ARD would have to review its tactics and strategies it had been employing before Sept 11, the day when terror attacks were made on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, to mount pressure on the government to hold elections.
He said since then the federation had been under sever strain and now a mechanism would have to be evolved whereby public awareness was heightened and public opinion mobilized without moving towards destabilization of the internal situation.
He dismissed the suggestion that time had come that the ARD should be disbanded to allow time to its components to prepare themselves for the elections.
“I think the ARD has a role to play. I don’t foresee its dismemberment. The alliance has a role because democracy, the prime objective for which the alliance had been launched, is yet to be restored.
“Since the restoration of democracy is under cloud, justification to keep the ARD intact is there”.
He rejected a demand by the PML-N that in view of the gravity of the situation the dismissed assemblies should be revived.
“It’s a closed and a past transaction”, Mr Rabbani said.
He said the PPP was always skeptic about the mandate of the assemblies which came into being as a result of the 1997 elections. The suspicion found evidence in reality when the attorney-general of the present regime admitted to the manipulation while appearing before the Supreme Court on a petition seeking the restoration of assemblies.
The PPP leader said despite a difference of opinion between the PPP and the PML-N on this important subject would not cast a shadow on the ARD.
He pointed out that the alliance had been formed for the sole purpose of the restoration of democracy and all constituent parties were free to have their own positions on other issues.
