PESHAWAR, Sept 6: The People’s Party Parliamentarians has urged President Pervez Musharraf to step down forthwith, saying that his ‘dictatorial stance’ on Balochistan has divided the nation.

Speaking at a protest rally here on Wednesday, NWFP PPP chief Rahimdad Khan claimed that Gen Musharraf had become a threat to the federation and his early departure would be better for the integrity of the country.

He said the assassination of former chief minister and governor of Balochistan Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was the second great tragedy in the country’s history after the judicial murder of PPP chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

PPP’s provincial senior vice-president Syed Qamar Abbas, general secretary Najmuddin Khan, MPA Syed Zahir Ali Shah and other leaders also condemned the murder of Nawab Bugti and his associates in an operation in Balochistan on Aug 26.

Earlier, PPP workers brought out a procession from the New Rampura Gate party office to Chowk Shaheedan in Qissakhwani Bazaar, where the protest meeting was held.

The protesters were carrying party flags and placards inscribed with slogans against rulers and the operation in Balochistan.

Speakers at the PPP rally chanted slogans in favour of the Baloch people.

The speakers warned that military dictators and Pakistan could not co-exist any longer.

They said the country was being run by a group involved in abrogation of the constitution, destruction of the political system and promotion of nepotism and rampant corruption.