December 01, 2007	Saturday	Ziqa’ad 20, 1428

LAHORE, Nov 30: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif announced the boycott of polls under pressure of “one-man” parties in the All Pakistan Democratic Movement (APDM) which do not see their chance to win the elections, says Awami National Party (ANP) Secretary-General Ehsan Wyne.

Mr Wyne had represented the party in the Thursday’s APDM meeting.

He said Mr Sharif as a seasoned politician did not want to take any measure in haste and had tried to convince others to delay the announcement of boycott. But to avert any division in the alliance, he said, the PML-N leader changed his mind and went along with the majority voice.

Mr Wyne also denied that the boycott decision was unanimous as was told to the media.

“We did not refute the claim there to avoid embarrassment to Mr Sharif and others in front of the media,” he said when asked why the party did not clarify its stance in time.

“Our stance was that the decision should be deferred until the proposed national conference to which Pakistan People’s Party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islama Fazl President Maulana Fazlur Rehman will also be invited and then a combined line on the issue could be taken. Mr Sharif also supported it.”

He said the ANP could join the boycott option only if all opposition parties would do so.

He said he was not optimistic about the potential of the APDM to make the boycott call a success. He warned that the failure of the call could depress the nation.

“Political parties earlier failed the nation when Musharraf imposed emergency. What did they do then? The nation plunged into a deep depression due to their inaction.”

Mr Wyne argued that in these circumstances launching a movement against the government after rigging in the polls, as being feared by the opposition parties, would be more fruitful. —Staff Reporter