QUETTA, Jan 14: A multi-party conference (MPC) here on Sunday constituted a committee to contact the political leadership of other provinces for launching a nation-wide movement for restoration of genuine democracy in the country.

It appealed to the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of what was described as government's unconstitutional and extra-judicial actions and to stop such actions.

The meeting opposed the fencing and mining of borders with Afghanistan and urged the government to review its decision.

The conference convened by the Balochistan chapter of PPP Parliamentarians was attended by the National Party, Balochistan National Party (Mengal), Awami National Party, PML-N, Jamhoori Watan Party, Jamaat-i-Islami and Tehrik Insaf. It was presided over by the PPP’s provincial chief Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani. The Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party did not attend the conference.

Briefing the press after the conference, National Party chief Dr Hayee Baloch said the MPC had formed a committee under his chairmanship. It comprises Bismillah Khan (PPPP), Malik Wali Kakar (BNP-M), Khudadad Khan (ANP), Rafiq Khoso (JWP), Ayaz Swati (PML-N), Abdul Haq Hashimi (Jamaat-i-Islami) and Dost Agha (Tehrik Insaf)."The committee was assigned the task of contacting the leaders of political parties to form a `united front’ that would evolve a strategy to mobilise the masses against the dictatorship responsible for the political crisis in the country," he said.

The National Party chief said the MPC had decided to hold rallies in Quetta and all district headquarters of Balochistan on January 21 in protest against the military operation, extra-judicial arrests and raids on homes of political opponents.

He asked the government to stop the military operation and release all political workers. “The political leadership, including Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, should be allowed to return and participate in the political process.”

In reply to a query, Dr Hayee said that elections under the Musharraf government would not be fair or impartial and demanded that an interim government should be in place to supervise the polls and hand over powers to the elected government.

Dr Hayee said that Balochistan’s nationalist and democratic forces would actively participate in the nationwide movement against the one-man rule.

He did not agree with a questioner that there was a deference of opinion within the ranks of political forces over launching of a decisive movement against the Musharraf government, saying that with the passage of time the dictatorship and democratic forces would line up against each other for a final round.

Dr Hayee said Balochistan people would never forget the killing of hundreds of innocent people including Nawab Akbar Bugti by security forces and the torture of thousands of arrested political activists.

Nawabzada Raisani, Dr Hayee Baloch, Malik Wali Kakar, Khudadad Khan, Sohail Rajput (JWP), Nasibullah Bazai (PML-N), Nazar Baloch (Tehrik Insaf) and Zahid Akhtar (Jamaat-i-Islami) represented their parties at the MPC.