March 15, 2006	Wednesday	Safar 14, 1427

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LAHORE, March 14: Former foreign minister Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali said here on Tuesday that all the neighbouring states, including China, seemed annoyed with Pakistan because of the recent visit of President George W Bush during which Washington exerted pressure on Islamabad for the containment of China and adoption of an aggressive policy against Iran.

“The US president’s visit has cost us dearly as it required of us a role against trusted friends in the region and the price we got in turn is abysmal because the Americans are not prepared to allow us to meet our energy requirements,” Mr Ali said while speaking at a seminar sponsored by the People’s Lawyers Forum at the Lahore High Court Bar Association building.

He said Washington’s discrimination in favour of India was now an open secret and it showed that the US accorded least significance to Pakistan’s claim of strategic importance. He said Washington had chosen New Delhi as a strategic partner because of its democratic strength and trade and commercial interests which they could not serve in Pakistan.

The consensus at the seminar was that opposition political parties should abstain from any electoral exercise in future if held under the supervision of the Musharraf regime.

Speaking on the event, PLF leaders Mian Jahangir, Zahid Husain Bokhari, Abid Saqi and Nasim Kashmiri, former LHCBA presidents Hafiz Abdur Rehman Ansari, Fakharunnisa Khokhar, Ahmad Awais and bar finance secretary Rabiyya Bajwa said taking part in elections under the supervision of the regime would be a futile exercise because such a polls would neither promote a democratic society nor ensure independence of the judiciary, rule of law and development of national institutions.

The speakers said the regime was not prepared even to form an independent election commission and was perpetuating with an officiating chief election commissioner who was focusing more on his permanent appointment than ensuring the impartiality of polls.

They said the recent local council elections, which were massively rigged, were an example of how neutral was the commission. They were of the view that if an independent and non-partisan election commission was not set up, the opposition parties should boycott polls.

The speakers also called for an all-party conference to discuss the future political and democratic set up, besides parameters of socio-economic development. The proposed APC, they suggested, should serve as working out a political and economic agenda of the country with commitment from all organizations to adopt it as their party manifestos.

Supporting the proposals put forward at the seminar, Sardar Assef said it was time that the political parties should work for achieving a national goal focussing on undiluted democracy as the main target.

He warned the government against ‘conspiracy’ against the country’s genuine socio-economic development which was possible only if national institutions like an independent judiciary and non-partisan election commission were strengthened. He said the elections held without participation of the PPP, PML-N, MMA, Jamhoori Watan Party, Balochistan National Party, Awami National Party and other democratic forces would lend no credence to democracy which was badly needed in achieving a national and international recognition.

Mr Ali, however, criticised the MMA for supporting Gen Pervez Musharraf in legitimising his regime by voting for the 17th amendment to the Constitution which, he said, was mainly responsible for deterioration of the democratic process. He said the MMA could hardly be trusted.