ISLAMABAD, April 7: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, a conglomerate of 15 political parties, on Sunday rejected referendum and announced that it would hold protest rallies at all places where Gen Musharraf would hold public meetings.

Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, who presided over an ARD meeting at the residence of Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif, told newsmen that the alliance would coordinate its activities with other parties, including Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), to launch a country-wide public mobilization campaign to frustrate the exercise.

He said that all major political parties, including the MMA, ANP and PONM, had rejected the referendum.

He said the ARD would call on the outside democratic nations, particularly the member states of the Commonwealth, and the world media to beware of the real designs of the military rulers in the garb of the so-called restoration of democracy after the farce of referendum.

In reply to a question, the ARD chief said that the alliance had asked for the return of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto to play their role in national politics but, he added, it was for their parties to give a time-frame for their comeback.

He complained said that while the government-backed parties were free to hold rallies, opponent political parties were being denied of that freedom and added that the disruption of ARD’s proposed Lahore rally in late March was a case in point. He demanded lifting of curbs from political activities and repeal of electoral reforms. The politician said that nowhere in the world but Pakistan—and that too under military dictators—the referendum was held to hoodwink the masses.

He expressed surprise over the statement of Law Minister Khalid Ranjha that Pakistan had been founded as a result of a referendum. Describing it as a wrong notion, he said Pakistan had come into being in the aftermath of a great movement and sacrifices by the Muslims of the subcontinent and added that the referendum was only held in the Frontier province where Congress had a claim.

The ARD chief stressed that the three years allowed by the Supreme Court to Gen Musharraf to run the government affairs were not binding and he could have transferred power before expiry of the same instead of embarking upon extending his term through unconstitutional methods.

He appealed to the masses to back political parties in their movement to boycott the referendum. Gen Musharraf, he said, has convened a meeting of the Nazimeen from all over the country and instructed them to not only to convince people for voting in the referendum but also to bring 5,000 people each to his rallies. “We have also planned to hold public rallies at all those venues where President Musharraf will speak and our first such rally will be held at Minar-i-Pakistan at a date and time to be announced later,” he announced.

Referring to the tall claims made by Gen Musharraf in his address to nation about his two-and-a-half-year performance, the Nawabzada said that his foreign policy was a complete failure and economic recovery was only on papers as no relief from rampant price-hike and unemployment was passed on to the common man.

He said it was strange that none of the 56 Muslim countries bothered to condemn India for massing its forces on the Pakistan borders and Yasser Arafat had even sent his emissary to India. This is because of the foreign policy failure that Pakistan stands isolated even among its neighbours and Muslim states, he remarked.

PPP’s senior vice-chairman Makhdoom Amin Faheem, ARD Secretary-General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, PML-N Secretary-General Saranjam Khan, Tehmina Daultana, Jamhoori Watan Party’s Khudai Noor, Syed Manzoor Ali Gilan (TI), Malik Naveed Ahmed, Malik Hakimeen, Malik Haider Usman and Siddiqul Farooq were present.

APC: The ARD failed to decide on convening of an all parties conference for taking a unanimous stand against the referendum. Sources said the indecision was due to Benazir Bhutto’s opposition to the holding of an APC which would be attended by the religious parties.