HYDERABAD, Dec 26: President of the People’s Party Parliamentarians, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, has urged the opposition parties to devise a unified strategy whether or not to participate in next year’s elections.

He suggested replacement of the present federal and provincial governments with a consensus national government and suspension of nazims’ powers before polls at three tiers of local bodies before the elections.

Speaking to newsmen at the wedding ceremony of Syed Hafeez Ali Shah, younger brother of former UC Nazim Zair Peer, Syed Ali Mohammad Shah, at Kot Syed Safdar Sardar Shah, Matiari late Monday night, he criticised the campaign, launched by President General Pervez Musharraf to drum up support “for his own party men”. He demanded free and fair elections and said that as of today the situation was heading nowhere.

Terming the president’s stand as pre-election rigging, he said the present parliament whose own term would expire next year, could not re-elect the president for another ten years. The PPP leader said that only those elected in next general elections could elect president and there would be no objection if people’s representatives elected him.

"No decision should, however, be taken which is against aspirations of the people”, he added. He called for a clear strategy by the political parties, especially the opposition parties, to decide whether or not to participate in general elections.

He, however, said that same political parties including MMA, PML-N, and Imran Khan participated in elections held in 2002, held by incumbent president.

He warned that if elections are rigged with the involvement of government machinery then his party could take any decision. “The Chief and the Provincial Election Commissioners must have confidence of people and their orders must be complied with if and when they take notice of election malpractices”, he said.

He accused the government of pursuing a policy of divide and rule by spreading rumours about alleged PPP-government deal.

He shrugged off such reports of deal and pointed out that had that been true, then Ms.Benazir Bhutto would have been exempted from the cases she was facing now. Regarding Benazir Bhutto's return, he categorically stated that she was returning and the same is the case with Nawaz Sharif adding that he had already told his party leaders not to issue statements about her tentative date of return.

He described recent announcement of Kalabagh dam's construction as election slogan of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and made it clear that it would not be built without consensus among the provinces.

“President basically needs a support base in Punjab but he will have to chose between Pakistan and Kalabagh dam”, he said.

He said that there was no formal contact between MMA and PPP to sit across the table for any possible alliance in the wake of PPP's support to Women Protection Bill.

He clarified that PPP had actually supported its own manifesto regarding Hudood laws and if PPP remained aloof from participating in proposing amendments in the bill, then government would have introduced those amendments which suited it.