05 October 2004	Tuesday	19 Shaban 1425

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

LARKANA, Oct 4: People's Party Parliamentarians leader Aftab Shahban Mirani is of the opinion that Gen Pervez Musharraf will leave the army post and announce general election for next year.

Talking to this correspondent here on Monday, he observed that the government had appeared to have decided to cut the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal to its size through the election.

The government might also use the lever of disqualification of candidates because many such cases were pending in the Supreme Court against MMA leaders, he further claimed.

Replying to a question, he maintained that the government would announce the general election before holding local bodies' polls. The government had been trying and testing sitting nazims and it would not take the risk that new faces came in the arena through the local bodies' election, he added.

Answering another question, the former defence minister said the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy would participate in the election. He said the PPP was fully prepared to contest the election and added that re-organization and mobilization of the party had already been started. He claimed that the PPP was the only party which had had roots in the masses.

He termed party chairperson Benazir Bhutto's refusal to accept the premiership a wise decision and said the PPP would accept the top slot only if offered with full authority.

Our Khairpur Correspondent adds: Sindh People's Party Parliamentarians president Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said vacant party posts from provincial to union council level will be filled soon.

Speaking at a meeting of the party's district working committee here on Sunday, he said those who wanted to divide the PPP would not succeed in their designs. He regretted that there was a ban on recruitment for five years but the rulers were appointing their favourites.

Youths were crossing the age limit for government jobs and many of them were committing suicides due to disappointment, he added. Mr Shah urged party office-bearers to help people in getting Computerized National Identity Cards and registering their names in the electoral roll.

The PPP leader criticized the government for creating water shortage and resorting to power load shedding. He maintained that a resolution of the Sindh Assembly urging President Gen Pervez Musharraf to keep the army post did not have any legal effect. MPA Nawab Wassan, Naeem Kharal, Sajid Bhambhan and others also spoke on the occasion.