February 19, 2006	Sunday	Muharram 20, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: Commonwealth Secretary-General Donald McKinnon said on Saturday that his organization would play its role to ensure that the general election due in 2007 was held in a free and fair manner.

Talking to reporters after meeting leaders of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy, he said the Commonwealth would monitor the polls.

ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, vice-president Tehmina Daultana, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) chairman Raja Zafarul Haq and People’s Party Parliamentarians Senator Enver Baig were also present.

Later, Mr McKinnon met the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, at the Parliament House. He told reporters following the meeting that he had conveyed the Commonwealth’s concerns about President’s Pervez Musharraf’s military post and fairness of the next election to government functionaries he met earlier in the day.

He avoided commenting on statements by some ruling party figures that the election could be delayed till 2008, and said it was an ‘internal issue’ of Pakistan.

Mr McKinnon termed his meeting with the ARD delegation ‘successful’ and said most of the views expressed by the opposition leaders about the present set-up in the country were ‘not surprising’ for him. He said the opposition must be given space and opportunity to speak on issues.

Mr Jhagra told reporters that Mr McKinnon had supported the alliance’s view that the return of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif before the election was a must.

Mr Fahim said his delegation had discussed ‘democracy’ with Mr McKinnon and told him that free and fair polls were not possible under the present set-up.

He said the regime which had massively rigged the local government elections could not hold a free and fair general election.

He said the issue of “political victimisation of the opposition parties” by the regime was also highlighted during the meeting and Mr McKinnon was informed about the continued detention of ARD president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi and former National Assembly speaker Yousuf Raza Gillani and recent arrests of PML-N MNA Khawaja Saad Rafiq and a large number of opposition workers.