PESHAWAR, Oct 24: The Pakistan People’s Party has said that it will not allow the rulers to impose a ‘permanent dictatorship’ by introducing ‘stage-managed and controlled politics’ in the country.

Speaking at a news conference at the Hayatabad residence of PPP’s provincial chief Rahimdad Khan on Wednesday, PPP secretary-general Jehangir Badr said his party would resist all kinds of dictatorial moves by the rulers.

He said the anti-democratic rulers, who had gained control over all the resources in the country, wanted to depoliticise Pakistan because they disliked democratic dispensation. “The rulers are opposed to each and every symbol of politics,” he remarked.

He said the attack on a PPP rally on Oct 18 was the biggest tragedy in the political history of Pakistan. The attack was aimed at eliminating the entire PPP leadership.

He characterised the attack as an assault on democracy because the perpetrators, according to him, had no chance of winning against the PPP candidates in the forthcoming elections. The young PPP workers, who had converged on Karachi from every part of the country, sacrificed their lives and saved the party leadership.

Mr Badr was of the opinion that the rulers wanted to establish a new kind of political system, in which the political parties had no role to play.

He said PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto had informed Gen Musharraf of the possibility of an attack upon her return to the country. After the attack, he said, she asked President Gen Pervez Musharraf to get the episode investigated by some impartial officers.

But the government had so far failed to identify the perpetrators of the bombings. The authorities had also declined to involve foreign experts in the investigations.

Mr Badr said: “PPP wants national consensus on the crucial issues confronting the nation, but the rulers are adamant to promote the politics of stubbornness and intolerance across the country.”

He said the reaction of some politicians on the Karachi carnage had exposed their callousness. He claimed that the PPP had been fighting for many years on two fronts — for the restoration of democracy and against terrorism. He said his party would not welcome the renegades who had joined hands with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League after the last elections.