LAHORE, Aug 3: Two provincial leaders of the PML-N and the PPP criticized the chief election commissioner on Wednesday for his continued silence over the alleged pre-poll rigging being carried out by the rulers to sweep the local elections.

At a news conference here, Mian Javed Latif and Naveed Chaudhry said instead of rigging the elections, the president should better nominate his favourites on all seats. They said as many as 875 opposition-backed candidates had been implicated in false cases and many others had been kidnapped. Houses of various opposition candidates were also being raided and every institution from a police station to the presidency had become partisan.

They pointed out that the CEC was saying that he was taking action on complaints regarding the kidnap of various candidates, but the secretary of the commission was refuting such allegations. The leaders of the ARD parties said President Musharraf had addressed an election meeting of the ruling party while the prime minister a meeting of the MQM. The chief ministers and other functionaries were also speaking at the electoral meetings of the ruling party nominees and announcing development projects.

Public funds, they alleged, were being lavishly used to ensure the victory of the government candidates. Mr Latif and Mr Chaudhry said the ARD had taken steps to frustrate the government’s designs. Lawyers’ panels had been set up to defend the opposition candidates implicated in baseless cases.

Also, they said, use of the government machinery in favour of the government-backed candidates would be brought to the notice of the media and the human rights organizations.

Mr Chaudhry alleged that the constituency of ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim had been targeted in particular by the Sindh government.