January 5, 2006	Thursday	Zilhaj 4, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 4: Pakistan People’s Party, Sindh, has declared that 2006 would be the year of empowerment of the people and democratic forces, and that PPP chairperson Ms Benazir Bhutto would return much before her supporters’ expectation to lead the ‘democratic caravan’. He hinted that she might return within this year.

Secretary General of the Sindh PPP Nafees Siddiqui, addressing a news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday, said that on Thursday, the party would be celebrating 78th birthday of its founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto with a resolve to resist further onslaught of the dictatorship and strive for empowerment of the people whose aspirations it represented.

He claimed that 2005 was the year of economic and political setbacks during which rights of people, including women and minorities, had been violated and their economic opportunities and basic political rights guaranteed under the constitution were denied.

He said that the PPP, as a component of the ARD and in association with the MMA, was doing its utmost to protect people’s rights.

He alleged that the regime had violated the constitution as Gen Pervez Musharraf had failed to address the parliament, which was a constitutional obligation. This, he added, reflected contempt for the parliament and democratic institutions on his part and tantamount to undermining the parliament.

He also claimed that there was a foreign policy setback and in this context referred to the delay in the reopening of Indian consulate in Karachi. He said that relations with Iran were also getting strained due too much tilt toward the US.

Mr Siddiqui said that the October 8 earthquake further compounded problems for the people but the regime failed to respond to the situation promptly and in a coherent manner. The management of the quake-related matters was not appropriate as it lacked transparency, he added.

The PPP leader claimed that foreign exchange reserves, which stood at $8 billion, appeared to be less by more than $1 billion while inflation was as high as 8.5 per cent.

He accused the regime of deliberately trying to pit one province against the other, and claimed that the Kalabagh Dam bogey was a part of a conspiracy against the federation. He said that the regime’s contempt for the will and aspirations of people was evident from this issue because the project had been rejected by three provincial assemblies.

Mr Siddiqui said that the recent rally in Karachi against the Kalabagh Dam had reinforced people’s will against the project. He slammed the government for delaying the setting up of the Council of Common Interests and for unleashing bombardment on innocent people of Balochistan.

He was of the view that whatever was happening in Balochistan these days had no example in any civilized society. He stressed the need for a dialogue to resolve the issue in a political way.