LAHORE, Aug 13: PML-N chief coordinator Ahsan Iqbal has predicted that the existing political system may collapse anytime, ushering in a very serious crisis. In his opinion, the danger can be averted only by setting up a neutral government to hold free and fair elections under the supervision of a chief election commissioner appointed in consultation with the opposition parties.

At a news conference here on Saturday, the PML-N leader challenged the popularity claims made by President Pervez Musharraf and said if the claims were well-founded he should have no fear in holding fresh elections and allowing the exiled leadership to contest.

He asked the general to let the electorates reject Mian Nawaz Sharif and Ms Benazir Bhutto in a fair election and show their support for him.

Provincial information secretary Zaeem Qadri was also present at the news conference.

A former deputy chairman of the Planning Commission during the second stint of Mr Sharif, Ahsan Iqbal disagreed with President Musharraf’s claims that the political governments had spent trillions of rupees during their 11-year rule but had not set up any mega project except for the motorway.

The PML-N leader said the general had probably an eye-sight problem for which he should consult the eye specialists. Had he been “sightful”, Mr Iqbal said, the general should have known that the Karachi and Lahore airports had been set up by the PML-N government and Chashma nuclear power plant, Ghazi Barotha power project, Kohat tunnel, Gwadar port, dualization of Karachi-Peshawar highway and a number of other projects had been planned by the Sharif government.

Even Baab-i-Pakistan, the foundation stone of which is to be laid by President Musharraf here on Sunday (today), had been planned by the PML-N government.

According to him, progress on the project could not be made because the government and the relevant agencies had dispute over the land on which multi-million rupees project was to be set up.

Mr Iqbal alleged that Gen Musharraf was portraying the political and democratic governments as corrupt and inefficient compared to the setup he was presiding.

He said he was willing to go for a live televised debate with the general to prove that the existing system was more corrupt than the political governments he frequently referred to and that the parliament and the judiciary had lost their authority.

Corruption was more rampant than ever, he added. Referring to reports that opposition leaders were joining the ruling party everyday, the PML-N leader said this was nothing but horse trading and the exercises carried out in the past paled in comparison with what the rulers were doing now.

He was critical of the government for its decision to expel foreign students studying at various seminaries. He pointed out that the British government had not held Pakistan responsible for the July 7 London bombings, but by deciding a crackdown on seminaries the Pakistan government had tried to convey an impression as if the seminaries were nurseries of militants and extremists. In an attempt to please the West, Mr Iqbal said, the general was destroying the image of the country.

He underlined the need for preparing a balance sheet to calculate the successes and failures of the present setup over the past six years.

A former MNA from Narowal, Mr Iqbal said Gen Musharraf had completed equivalent to three tenures of political governments but the country faced more problems today than the so-called reformer had inherited. Poverty and unemployment were on the rise and people were finding it difficult to survive.

He said plans had been prepared to rig the local elections.