PESHAWAR, Aug 2: The president of National Workers Party, Abid Hassan Minto, has said that his party will not participate in the upcoming polls if the proposed constitutional amendments are implemented.

Mr Minto told a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Thursday that a consensus decision in this regard would be taken after a meeting of the Pakistan National Conference, component parties of which had agreed to contest polls from one platform.

A former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Mr Minto said generals would continue interfering in the civilian affairs and sabotaging the Constitution as long as the political parties looked to the establishment for any help.

The NWP chief rejected the constitutional package and pledged to continue struggle for the restoration of the parliamentary form of government.

Calling the National Security Council a controversial institution, he said it was an attempt to give a constitutional role to the army through the NSC. He said President Pervez Musharraf was wrong in saying that he wanted to strike a balance in the powers of president, prime minister and army chief. Power, he added, should rest with the elected prime minister and the army chief in his capacity should serve as the government servant.

The army, he alleged, had caused an irreparable loss to the country in the name of security and Jihad in Kashmir. He said there was no hope from the PPP and the PML because both had failed to deliver, and asked the people to elect honest people so that the country could be driven towards progress and prosperity.

About the graduation condition for contesting the polls, he said this would deprive large chunk of the candidates from contesting elections.