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| October 3, 2005 | Monday | Sha’aban 28, 1426 |
Pervaiz using arm-twisting tactics, alleges ARD
FAISALABAD, Oct 2: The local leaders of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy have severely criticized the Punjab chief minister for his alleged interference in the final round of local polls in violation of code of conduct to ensure victory for the ruling party candidates.
Speaking at a press conference here on Sunday, the deputy-opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, Rana Sanaullah Khan, PPP Punjab General-Secretary Rana Aftab Ahmed, MNAs Sahibzada Fazal Karim, Abid Sher Ali and Raja Nadir Pervaiz, and joint candidate for city district nazim slot, former MNA Rana Zahid Tauseef accused the chief minister of issuing instructions, during his recent visit to the city, to police and administrative officers to ensure councillors’ support for the ruling party candidates at any cost.
They claimed the opposition parties’ activists were being threatened with dire consequences by the government officials for running campaigns of their candidates. Raids were conducted on the house of former MNA Mian Muhammad Farooq, while three workers of a town nazim candidate, Khalid Saeed Gill, were rounded up and implicated in a false case, the leaders said.
They further alleged a conspiracy had been hatched by the rulers to provide stamped ballot papers to councillors to stuff the boxes on Oct 6. These fake ballot papers had been printed in Islamabad and were being provided to government-supported candidates, they added.
They vowed to approach the chief election commissioner and other higher forums against the ‘misdeeds’ of the government and the alleged violations of election code by the chief minister.
The ARD leaders said they had requested the District Bar Association to form a lawyers’ committee to monitor the elections so that the true face of the government could be exposed.
They claimed Faisalabad was a stronghold of the PPP and PML-N and the government agencies were using ‘negative tactics’ to blackmail the voters, which could be dangerous for the peace of the district.
They alleged that officers of revenue, irrigation and police departments had been given special tasks by the their big bosses to get support for government-backed candidates by threatening the voters.
The opposition parliamentarians announced they would raise the voice against violation of election rules by the chief minister on the floors of the National and provincial assemblies and Senate. Proofs of pre-poll rigging by the government agencies would also be provided to the foreign diplomats and media, they said.
MPAs Riaz Shahid, Noorun Nisa Malik, Khalida Mansoor, Sheikh Ijaz Ahmed, Jahanzeb Imtiaz Gill, Raja Riaz Ahmed, Asghar Ali Qaisar, Dr Asad Moazam, Nawaz Malik, besides former parliamentarians, Mian Abdul Mannan, Mehmoodul Hassan Dar, Khawaja Muhammad Islam and Mehr Abdul Rahseed were also present on the occasion.
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