HYDERABAD, June 3: The Tehrik-i-Istaqlal (TI) has urged the government to call an all parties conference to evolve a consensus on Pakistan-India tension, general elections, constitutional amendments and election reforms.

Speaking at a meet the press programme of the Hyderabad Press Club here on Sunday, the TI chief Rehmat Khan Wardag, however, demanded that only those parties should be invited at the conference which held regular party elections. He added that those leaders should not be invited, who were criminals and had been convicted by courts.

He lashed out at the leaders of those parties who had refused to attend the advisory committee meeting, called by President Gen Pervez Musharraf, and put up certain conditions “to blackmail” the government.

The TI chief said Pakistan did not want war but if a war was thrust on it, 140 million people of the country would fight with their armed forces to defend the motherland.

He said it was neither 1965 nor 1971 and Pakistan did not have to depend on any American fleet to come to its rescue. He criticized the western powers for putting undue pressure on Pakistan.

He said his party endorsed the decisions taken by President Musharraf in the wake of Sept 11 incident, including crackdown on religious extremists and test firing of missiles.

He demanded the cities having a population of 1.5 million should be given the status of city governments, elections for national and provincial assemblies should be held on same day, those parties who had not hold regular party elections should be banned from taking part in the elections, and the elections should be held on the basis of proportionate representation.

He further demanded members of the families of corrupt people or those whose cases were pending with the National Accountability Bureau should be debarred from taking part in the general elections.

Mr Wardag pointed out since 1973 the population of the country had doubled and demanded that commensurate with this increase, the national and provincial assembly seats should also be doubled.

He also deplored the inordinate increase in the power tariff and said that 4,500 industrial units which were lying closed should be reopened to eliminate unemployment in the country.

EXAMS: The Sindh University has announced that the second semester examination of 2000-2001 of post-graduate diploma in the local government to be held from June 12, at the department of Political Science.