FAISALABAD, June 22: The local leaders of the PPP have alleged that the MQM is directly responsible for deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi. Speaking to the participants at a ceremony held in connection with PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto's birthday at the PPP City Secretariat on Tuesday, city president Mahmoodul Hassan Dar, a former provincial minister, and others alleged that the government's alliance with the MQM would prove fatal for the Jamali government.

The party, they said, had set a deadline of three months to demand powers from the federal and provincial governments for its cabinet members. They said the days of the current government were numbered and there might be general elections this year.

"People are committing suicides due to persistent price-hike in the country, but the rulers are claiming that they have presented a people-friendly budget," they said. The PPP leaders demanded that the government should quit and announce a schedule for the next general elections by inviting the former prime ministers.