ISLAMABAD, June 4: PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto has expressed concern at the passage of what she called a Taliban-style bill in the Frontier Assembly.

“The purpose of the bill is to interfere in the freedoms of the local people in a bid to impose greater restraints on individuals,” Ms Bhutto said in a statement issued by the PPP media cell here on Wednesday.

She said that the passage of the bill was the logical conclusion of what she called irrational policies adopted by the military government through marginalizing the mainstream and popular leadership of the country.

She said democracy was destabilised in 1996 with the ouster of the PPP government by hardliners who opposed the party policies to build a moderate and respected country where people prospered with freedom and free markets.

She said her brother was killed to overthrow her government, allow the Taliban to take over all of Afghanistan and pave the way for establishment of Al Qaeda headquarters.

Ms Bhutto said that NAB was created by hardliners and stuffed with anti-PPP officials to malign the PPP in the eyes of the people of Pakistan.

She said the policies pursued since the dismissal of the PPP government had led to the rise of religious parties in the country.

Ms Bhutto said that the PPP was reluctant to enter into an agreement with the MMA because it knew that sooner or later there would be a difference of opinion on issues such as the Vice and Virtue Bill as well as gender and other issues.

PPP chairperson expressed concern that under President Pervez Musharraf’s regime, the PPP, the PML-N and its allies had been kept out of power.

She said the result of politics of manipulation practised by the Musharraf government was to hand over power to religious parties.