LAHORE, July 8: The Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf said on Friday the Sharif family banished to Saudi Arabia for more than four years should be issued Pakistani passports. The party’s provincial office-bearers said at a news conference that the Sharif family and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto should be allowed to return home. Those who addressed the news conference included Admiral Javed Iqbal (retired), Maj Bashid Chaudhry (retired), Tariq Farooq Mirza, Syeda Saloni Bukhari, Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Amin Zaki, Muhammad Yasser Arafat and Shadab Jafri.

They said MQM leader Altaf Husain should also return home and play his role in national affairs.

PTI officials said either the government should withdraw the recent increase in petrol and gas prices or fix minimum wages at Rs5,000 a month.

Giving vent to their disquiet over the damages caused by floods in various parts of the country, they condemned the government’s ineptness to handle the situation. They said the worst-affected areas should be declared as calamity-hit.

PTI leaders also supported the NWFP government’s call for more financial assistance from Islamabad.

They said the party would take an active part in the local body elections. They said the government was involved in a pre-poll rigging.

The uncertainty about the local polls had benefited the ruling party and the government machinery was working for the ruling party candidates, PTI leaders said.

They demanded that the local elections should be held on party basis under the supervision of an independent election commission.