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| June 2, 2005 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 24, 1426 |
PPP leader calls for polls this year to avert crisis
QUETTA, June 1: The general secretary of PPP Sindh, Nafees Ahmed Siddique, said here on Wednesday that fresh, free and fair elections needed to be held this year as the present parliament had become redundant and could no longer deliver. Speaking at a “Meet the Press” programme of Quetta Press Club, he said that the country could come out of its present crisis if fresh polls were held soon. PPP central leader Jamal Shah Jogezai was present on the occasion.
Mr Siddique spoke at length about the current economic and political situation and claimed that the rulers had failed to resolve the problems of the common citizen. He strongly criticized the policies of the federal government and said that it had failed at all fronts and was pushing the country towards complete disaster.
“The country is facing economic, political and constitutional crisis due to the wrong policies of the rulers,” he said, adding that their actions were destroying all institutions in the country.
He cited two key issues that had become particularly burdensome for the masses — the price hike and growing lawlessness. While the price hike has broken the backbone of the poor, he said, the law and order situation has deteriorated in all four provinces. “Kidnapping for ransom, snatching of cars, motorcycles, highway robberies and killing of the people in the name of sectarianism has become the order of the day and the government has not able to overcome this situation,” he said.
Mr Siddique said that instead of providing employment to the people, the government had made thousands of people jobless by opting for downsizing and rightsizing.
He claimed that the government was not doing any thing to develop human resources.
Referring to the NFC award, the PPP leader said that the government had failed to develop consensus among the provinces on this issue and now the president himself was to take a decision in this connection.
Mr Siddique said that the issue of provincial autonomy did not belong exclusively to Balochistan and observed that other provinces were also demanding more powers to run their own affairs. According to him, the Pakistan People’s Party was struggling to resolve this important issue through the ARD platform. “Strong federating units can ensure a strong federation,” Mr Siddique said in reply to a question. “Without resolving this issue, federating units cannot be satisfied,” he added.
He said that an impartial chief election commissioner should be appointed, in consultation with the opposition leader, to hold free, fair and transparent elections in 2005 to avert any disaster.
He said that the PPP and other component parties of ARD wanted to abolish the 17th constitutional amendment and restore the 1973 Constitution.
“Representatives from high and superior court councils, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, and other institutions should be chosen to check the Election Commission,” the PPP leader said.
In response to another question, he said that the role of the army in the country’s politics must be ended so that democracy and democratic institutions could be strengthened.
Mr Siddique predicted a change in the present set-up after the budget session and said that the government would find it extremely difficult to secure parliament’s approval for the upcoming budget.
Replying to a question, he said that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal was the “B” team of the present government and claimed it shared the blame for the passage of the 17th amendment and imposition of a general as president.
PROTEST: Workers of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Quetta district, staged a protest demonstration for the release of their leader Bismillah Khan Kakar and other political prisoners, here on Wednesday.
The party activists, carrying placards and banners inscribed with their demands, gathered before the Quetta Press Club and chanted slogans against the government.
PPP leaders Nafees Ahmed Siddique, Sadullah Shah, Iqbal Shah, Saleem Malik and others spoke on the occasion. They criticized the government for detaining Bismillah Khan Kakar, provincial PPP general secretary, and other political leaders and workers.
They said the PPP always struggled for the restoration of democracy, democratic institutions and people’s rights and would not abandon its struggle despite the arrest of the party leaders and workers.
They demanded immediate release of the leaders and party workers.
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