ISLAMABAD, Feb 12: Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) chairman Raja Zafarul Haq has said there is no place for turncoats in the party and they will never be allowed to return as they have deceived their leaders, Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif.

Speaking at a party convention here on Saturday, the PML-N chairman said PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto had stated that the turncoats would not be allowed to join the party for at least 10 years, but he announced that the PML-N would not accept the turncoats in the party even for the next 100 years.

He said both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto in their recent meeting had expressed the view that there would be no use of holding elections in the country without setting up an independent election commission.

Mr Haq said Gen Musharraf had not removed his uniform, as he did not trust the people around him. He said Gen Musharraf knew that those who had deceived their previous leaders despite having a long association could not remain loyal to him, if he removed uniform. He claimed that the honeymoon period of the present rulers was over as history showed that the people did not tolerate a government for more than four or five years in the country. He said first the rulers used the name of Quaid-i-Azam to deceive the people and then silently removed it from the party's name.

He said recently Gen Musharraf had given medals to two army generals but the nation was not aware that what services they had rendered for the country. He said it was useless to distribute medals among themselves and it would serve no purpose. He said the civilians had been converted into third-rated citizens of the country.

He criticized the decision of increasing the salaries of the ministers after recent hike in prices of oil, gas and electricity.

He regretted that the judiciary was not playing its due role and people had lost faith in it. Quoting a report of an NGO, he said the judiciary was being used by the rulers at every level.

He said Nawaz Sharif was convicted for hatching a conspiracy to hijack aircraft, but the pilot of the aeroplane, who was the main witness, was not produced before the court, as he (pilot) had refused to tell a lie. Similarly, he said, the data of black box was erased to hide the evidence.

Speaking on the occasion, PML-N secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and his companions were supporting Gen Musharraf only to hide their corruption and misdeeds.

Mr Jhagra said Gen Musharraf was not allowing Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to return to the country as he knew that after their return, he would have no place to live in Pakistan. He said the PML-N would not let Gen Musharraf escape and he would be accounted for his every act in the last five years.

Mr Jhagra also criticized the Kashmir policy of the government and said the nation would not accept any solution to the issue other than the UN resolutions. He also alleged that the rulers had started rolling back the nuclear programme of the country. He said price-hike, unemployment and lawlessness were the gifts of the present military government.

Senator Sardar Mehtab Abbasi said military rulers had made the country's foundation very weak. He said first Gen Ziaul Haq used Islam to fulfil the US agenda and now another army general had launched a crackdown on the religious groups again on the directives of the US.

He said the military took over the government at a time when the country was heading towards a two-party system. He admitted that the politicians in the past committed some mistakes due to lack of tolerance but this did not give the right to non- democratic forces to acquire power. He said if generals wanted to do politics then first they should form a political party.

He said the US had intentionally imposed dictators in every Muslim country to keep them backward. He said Gen Musharraf was acting on the American agenda to convert Pakistan into a US colony. He also condemned the rulers for their failure to promote provincial harmony in the country. He said the Punjab chief minister had visited India, but he had never visited Quetta, Peshawar or Karachi to promote harmony.

The PML-N senator categorically announced that the party would not strike any deal with the military dictators even if it was kept out of power for another 10 years.

Former MPA Akhtar Mahmood condemned the government actions in Balochistan and called for finding a political solution to the crisis. He said women were being raped and cantonments were being set up in the province against the will of the Balochistan people.