ISLAMABAD, May 10: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has said it will prepare lists of all those government employees, including military personnel, who, they believed, will become tools for rigging in the next general elections while performing duties.

This was announced by PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal while speaking at the concluding session of a workshop on “Fair, Free, and Transparent Elections; National Imperatives and Criteria,” organized by the party here on Wednesday.

The PML-N leader said it had been decided that a committee would be constituted to monitor activities of the civilian and military government officers and an action would definitely be taken at an appropriate time against those officers who would become tools in the hands of the ruling party and violate the oath of their offices. He said such a committee would also be constituted at the level of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD).

Mr Iqbal said free and fair polls were not only necessary to strengthen democracy, but these were imperative for the country’s national security and integrity.

He said elections which did not provide a choice to the people to change the regime could not be called free and fair. He said time had come that non-controversial elections were held.

The PML-N leader said the nation had witnessed massive rigging in the referendum, elections 2002 and then the local government elections in 2001 and 2005.

Referring to Gen Musharraf’s meetings with the PML leaders, Mr Iqbal regretted that the presidency had been turned into the headquarters of the ruling party. He said any caretaker government under Gen Musharraf could not be termed a neutral setup.

Replying to a question, Mr Iqbal said if elections were announced and Gen Musharraf continued to remain in power, then the ARD would decide whether to take part in the elections or boycott them. He, however, said the nation would not allow the rulers to repeat the story of election 2002 and the government’s efforts to rig the polls would be resisted.

Earlier, in the opening session, PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq said Gen Musharraf had no right to appoint chief election commissioner on his own. He said today the country had the largest cabinet in the history, but the government was unable to complete quorum in the National Assembly.

The party’s secretary-general, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, said the PML-N would not hold talks with any dictator. However, he said, talks could be held with democratic forces on the issue of the restoration of democracy.

An expert of international relations Dr Mohammad Wasim said the country had been without any leadership for the past seven years as both Gen Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz were apolitical persons.

President of Supreme Court Bar Association Malik Qayyum said the political parties should not take part in the elections if they had doubt about their fairness. He suggested that an election tribunal comprising high court judges should be formed soon after elections only to hear polls-related petitions.