February 18, 2008	Monday	Safar 10, 1429

PESHAWAR, Feb 17: The Fata chapter of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has demanded of the Election Commission (EC) to postpone the election for NA-37, Tribal-II, where political administration has clamped the curfew after a suicide blast in front of the PPP election office on Saturday killing 47 innocent tribesmen and injuring over a hundred.

Talking to Dawn by telephone from Parachinar, PPP Fata chapter general secretary Mirza Khan Jihadi said it was impossible for the PPP to go into the elections on Monday as the party had already declared three days of mourning.

He said that despite curfew, sporadic aerial firing was continuing, adding the lawlessness had virtually crippled the political administration.

Mr Jihadi said that after the explosion, hundreds of tribesmen had moved out of the town for safety and were, therefore, unable to cast vote on Monday.

He added the womenfolk had also been advised through loudspeaker announcements to stay home on the polling day.

The PPP leader lamented that while the entire population was engaged in mourning, the nominee of the King’s party was pressurising local administration to conduct elections on Monday.

However, PPP provincial chief Rahimdad Khan told this scribe on phone from his native town that the PPP was in favour of election on Feb 18 because all these sacrifices were for getting elections held on fixed date to expose the dictator and his civilian partners.

He claimed that though the government had made every effort to postpone the elections, the PPP had forced Islamabad to hold these on Feb 18.

He said neither the EC nor the PPP candidate from the affected tribal agency had called for postponement of the elections.

The PPP, he said, had asked its polling agents to remain vigilant on the polling day and resist attempts to rig the polls by the King’s party.