LAHORE, March 28: Sindh PPP Secretary-General Nafees Siddiqui holds dictatorial rules responsible for the emergence of extremists, terrorists, Jihadis and opportunists. Talking to reporters here on Sunday, he said liberal forces would defeat the products of dictatorship if they were given a level playing-field in the elections.

He said in the 2002 elections, the PPP, the PML-N, the MQM and the ANP had polled more votes than the MMA despite the fact that the religious alliance had a patronage of the establishment. The position of these parties would improve further if the elections were free and fair, he said.

Siddiqui said liberal forces would make Pakistan a modern and enlightened state. In his opinion, Pakistan would have become a strong democracy and a model federation by now if Gen Zia and Gen Musharraf had not overthrown the elected governments.

The PPP leader said April 16 — the day when Asif Ali Zardari is due to come back home — would be a turning point for the country. With his return the party would stand mobilized to the grassroots level, he said. He said Zardari would be advancing the mission of the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and paving the way for the return of Ms Benazir Bhutto.