December 31, 2007	Monday	Zilhaj 20, 1428

SHEIKHUPURA, Dec 30: The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam (PML-Q) suffered another setback on Sunday when former MNA on a minorities’ seat and Pakistan Masihee Party secretary-general Haroon C Qasir announced to return the PML-Q ticket and decided to boycott the Jan 8 elections.

This is second announcement of its kind in two consecutive days, as a PML-Q hopeful for National Assembly from NA-137 had returned the party ticket and announced joining the PML-N on Saturday.

Talking to journalists at his residence, former MNA said that the current situation of the country did not warrant holding the upcoming elections.

Qasir demanded the Election Commission of Pakistan to postpone the elections until normalcy returned to Pakistan. He said his party condemned the Liaquat Bagh carnage in which Benazir Bhutto and scores of other were killed. The chairman of the party, Tariq C Qasir, also a former MNA during PPP’s regime, said that under prevailing emotional and tragic situation, no option was left to participate in the elections.

Earlier, Former PML-Q MNA and NA-137 candidate Rai Mansha Ali Kharal returned the party ticket and announced joining the PML-N here on Saturday.

Talking to reporters, he said the PML-Q had lost its credibility among the masses after the Dec 27 tragic incident. He alleged that Intelligence Bureau director Brigadier Ijaz Shah (retired) was inferring in the Nankana district politics. He said some PML-Q workers also wanted to join other political parties, but they were reluctant to do so because of the IB director’s pressure.—Correspondent