February 20, 2008	Wednesday	Safar 12, 1429

HYDERABAD, Feb 19: The leaders of Jamaat-i-Islami said on Tuesday that the success of anti-Musharraf candidates in general elections and low turnout of voters proved that people have rejected President Musharraf.

In a statement faxed to Dawn, ameer of JI’s Hyderabad chapter Shaikh Shoukat Ali and general secretary Dr Fawad Ahmed said that it was, therefore, high time that President Musharraf tendered resignation.

They claimed that an overwhelming majority of voters in Hyderabad had boycotted the elections. It was surprising to note that candidates had won by tens of thousands of votes though actual turnout of voters was not more than 15 to 20 per cent, they claimed.

No a single party had achieved a clear majority in elections forcing them to depend on one another to form the government, they said, adding that it was a foregone conclusion that such a government could not last long and people would have to go through another election very soon.

They said that if the winners truly believed in democracy, then they should get rid of President Musharraf, ensure restoration of deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhry and other judges who had refused to take oath under the PCO.

MINORITY LEADER: A central leader of the minority wing of the Pakistan People’s Party, Dr Ashok Kumar, said on Tuesday that people had avenged the murder of Ms Benazir Bhutto by throwing out the Choudhries of Gujarat.

Pakistan Muslim League’s ignominious defeat in election proved that people loved Bhutto family and Ms Bhutto’s blood had not gone in vain, he said in address to a big rally taken out in Tando Muhammad Khan to celebrate the party’s victory.

He said that people had translated their anger over the assassination of Benazir Bhutto into voting PPP candidates to power. Under the previous government, the minorities were ignored but it would not happen during PPP government, he said.