14 May 2004	Friday	23 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

LAHORE, May 13: People's Party secretary-general Jehangir Badr says the reported unification of Patriots and Sherpao groups on May 17 will fail to cause any damage to the PPP that is being led by Benazir Bhutto.

"Unification of even dozens of such groups cannot hurt the PPP," he told a press conference here on Thursday. Popularity of these groups would be exposed in the next general election because mingling of political personalities did not mean unity among supporters and the masses, he argued.

Asked why Ms Bhutto, unlike PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif, did not make any attempt to return home, he said she was not in race with Mr Sharif on the issue, and that she would end her self-exile after being given a green light by party's central executive committee.

He predicted that with her return, the region would undergo great changes. He denied that the PPP did not participate in the welcome programme for Mr Sharif and cited the arrest of several party's MPAs and activists in this regard.

The PPP leader held the government responsible for Karachi killings in by-polls on Wednesday, and warned that due to these tactics of the ruling alliance, the country was moving fast towards anarchy.

Meanwhile, provincial office-bearers of the PPP have reacted to the harassment created among voters in Karachi allegedly by the roughnecks having official patronage.

President Qasim Zia alleged that the government used every unfair mean to ensure the win of its nominees in the by-polls. Secretary-general Rana Aftab said due to large-scale rigging, the by-polls could be termed selections. Naveed Chaudhry condemned firing on PPP leaders in Karachi.