May 30, 2003	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 27,1424

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ISLAMABAD, May 29: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Thursday condemned the arrest of opposition members of the Punjab Assembly and the baton-charge on journalists in Lahore and said the event reflected the government’s nervousness in dealing with the situation.

“The government has become jittery over the growing pressure of the opposition to fully restore the 1973 Constitution and supremacy of the parliament,” he said in a statement.

Mr Khan said the nation was being held hostage by one man in the name of ‘supreme national interest’ as he was not willing to transfer power to democratic institutions.

“Time is running out for the government before the crisis reaches a breaking point,” he observed, adding that the PTI had always rejected the role of the establishment in running the affairs of the country, and unless democratic institutions did not play their constitutional role, the country’s security interest would continue to be threatened.

He rejected the talks of nuclear rollback without a global agreement.

The PTI chief said that in the changing global security environment, Pakistan’s security was not just threatened by India only, and suggested to strengthen the nuclear deterrence.

He congratulated the scientists on the occasion of the 1998 nuclear blasts’ anniversary, saying the collective efforts of these scientists had made it possible to make Pakistan a nuclear power.

SINDH CHIEF: Imran Khan has appointed Mirza Jehangir-ur-Rehman as president of the party’s Sindh chapter.

The decision was announced after a meeting of the central executive committee. Mr Jehangir has replaced Mir Haider Ali Talpur, who relinquished the office due to personal reasons.