LAHORE, Jan 11: The provincial organisations of the PML-N, the Jamaat-i-Islami and the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf have decided to extend political cooperation to one another for a joint democratic struggle.

The tripartite forum, which the component parties desisted from saying an alliance, will hold public meetings in Rawalpindi, Multan and Lahore after the Ashura to mark the beginning of what they said a sustained campaign for the establishment of a genuine democracy, independent judiciary, a free and powerful election commission and non-partisan accountability institution.

The forum has set up a coordination committee to work out a future strategy. Pir Ejaz Hashmi will head the committee with Mian Sajid Pervaiz as its chairperson.

Punjab presidents of the component parties, Sirdar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa, Liaquat Baloch and Ahsan Rashid told a news conference that the forum was set up as a result of continued dialogue among them in the past.

“We agree that the elections under the supervision of Gen Pervez Musharraf will not be impartial, transparent and free and such an exercise will also not promise the establishment of real democracy in the country”, they said and added that their campaign was directed against the autocratic rule which had endangered the country.

They said all indicators pointed out that a potential and conclusive movement against the rulers was about to begin that would culminate at their ouster. They felt that if the next elections were rigged and manipulated in favour of any party, the country would plunge into political abyss.

The people could no longer afford a rubber-stamp parliament and a dummy prime minister, they said.

“We understand that it is high time all political organisations got united to give a meaningful blow to dictatorship and ensure that the people have real democracy and strong state institutions”, the leaders added.

They said the united front was neither going to develop into an alliance nor was it projected against the ARD or the MMA. “We are trying to solicit the support of all opposition groups as we are going into a movement; we cannot afford to undermine the political cooperation obtaining in the country at this juncture of the history”, they answered another question.

RESERVATION: However, a leader of a component party confided to Dawn on the condition of anonymity that certain parties might remain away, rather resist, an impending political agitation for certain expediencies. He named the PPP and the JUI that, he said, were the parties that could pose problems to the political agitation.