LAHORE, Sept 15: The Jamhoori Group comprising the PML-N, PPP (Parliamentarians) and the Jamaat-i-Islami has decided to boycott the Ravi Town run-off polls being held on Tuesday in protest against the alleged government interference and shifting of councillors to Murree, but the government has decided to go ahead with the polling according to schedule.

Punjab PML-N president Zulfiqar Khosa, secretary-general Saad Rafiq, PPP provincial president Qasim Zia, Lahore president Misbahur Rehman, JI MPA Chaudhry Shaukat and Jamhoori Group candidates Salman Rafiq and Chaudhry Sarfraz announced the decision at a press conference here on Monday evening.

Mr Khosa said they had decided to boycott the polls unanimously in consultation with PML-N president Javed Hashmi and Shahbaz Sahrif due to the use of money, coercion and intimidation of councillors by police and shifting them to Murree where the special branch ‘stalwarts’ had deprived them of their mobile phones to ensure that they could not contact anyone elsewhere.

Saad Rafiq said interference in Ravi Town elections had exposed the government claims about being fair and democratic. He said a government which could not tolerate the opposition in a town should better stop talking about democracy.

Qasim Zia said Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and district Nazim Mian Amer had crossed all limits of decency in Ravi Town polls. He said the tradition of handling everything by force would ultimately result in the downfall of the government.

Salman Rafiq and Chaudhry Sarfraz said the whole electoral process had become meaningless and farcical for the Jamhoori Group as it had lost contact with 450 councillors after their shifting to Murree since Saturday night. They alleged that SSP investigation Chaudhry Shafqat had threatened the councillors with dire consequences while district Nazim Mian Amer and Tourism Minister Aslam Iqbal were offering Rs40,000 to each councillor for a vote.

They said they would take the district Nazim to task in the next district council session and the provincial government in voting on the recall motion against Data Ganj Bakhsh Town Nazim Khwaja Hassaan.

Meanwhile, chief minister’s chief coordinator Senator Kamil Ali Agha said the Jamhoori Group decision to boycott the polls was not unexpected.

Speaking at a party meeting convened to formulate the polling day strategy after the announcement of the boycott, he said he had already predicted it some four days ago.

He said the polling day strategy would not be changed despite boycott by the “majboori group”. PML-Q workers and leaders would spend the day outside the polling station at the University of Engineering and Technology, he said.