KARACHI, Sept 3: The Pakistan Muslim League (N) has stated that if the government insisted on keeping the Legal Framework Order in force, the country could face another 1971-like situation and suffer another tragedy.

Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday, PML-N central information secretary Siddiqul Farooq said that if power was not transferred to the representatives of the people, a civil war could break out. He added that the outbreak of the civil war might provide the enemies of the country another opportunity to break it.

The PML-N leader recalled that the country had suffered a lot during army rule in the past. He disputed the claim of President Pervez Musharraf about restoring law and order to the country and reviving the economy. He claimed that during the past three years, 320 incidents of terrorism had occurred in which 939 people had been killed and 1,784 injured.

“In Karachi, seven political activists and a journalist were killed yesterday. Corruption is rampant in the country; there is tension on the border with India which has come close to China; and no investment is flowing into the country,” he observed.

He said that according to the Survey of Pakistan, over 10.4 million people joined those below the poverty line the previous year. He added that over the past three years more than a million people had become jobless.

Answering a question, he said President Musharraf had raised the issue of the Kalabagh Dam to deflect attention from other pressing issues, such as tension on the borders, rising poverty, unemployment and the Kashmir issue.

The PML-N said three provincial assemblies had already passed resolutions against the Kalabagh Dam. He accused the president of trifling with the sovereignty of the country.

When a newsman commented that even during the Nawaz government incidents of terrorism had occurred, the PML-N leader said there could be no comparison between Nawaz Sharif and President Musharraf. “The latter is an unconstitutional ruler who is not accountable to anyone and all agencies are under his control which operated freely during the government of the former,” he explained.

The PML-N leader said the army had forfeited its moral authority to such an extent that the people were turning against it. He said anti-army feelings were running high in Punjab.

He said Nawaz Sharif had been against allowing the army to interfere in politics. He promised that if the PML-N came to power, it would make the army discharge its constitutional duties.

PML-N Sindh chapter leaders Imdad Chandio, Haider Shah, Engineer Shahmir Khan and Chaudhry Saleem Elahi also attended the press conference.