KARACHI, July 22: The Pakistan Peoples Party has expressed concern over the government’s decision to hire private security agencies for helping law-enforcement agencies in maintaining law and order during the local bodies elections. The concern was vindicated by Nafees Siddiqui, General-Secretary of PPP Sindh, at a news conference here on Friday.

He said indicated that the authorities had reportedly declared 90 per cent of the polling stations in Karachi ‘sensitive’ and whenever such a situation developed in the past, elections in sensitive areas were not held in the first phase. “Surprisingly, the authorities are not bothered and have even decided to involve private security agencies in maintaining law and order.”

Mr Siddiqui described the move as yet another attempt to manipulate the ballot, and argued that who would verify that these private security personnel were not activists of any political party. “Who will guarantee that they will be impartial and honest?”

He also urged that Election Commission not to allow allotment of the election symbols used by a political party to the local bodies candidates. He said that more new symbols should be added to the list. Inclusion of the symbols being used by the ruling coalition members was indicative of the scale of pre-poll rigging, he said.

He commended the CEC for expressing its concern over the transfers and postings resorted to after the announcement of the LB election schedule, and urged him to take preventive measures. He also reminded the CEC of the alleged abduction of PPP-supported candidates.

In reply to a question about the possibility PPP opting for boycott of election against the alleged abduction of a large number of Awam Dost candidates, Mr Siddiqui said boycott was an option, but his party would not go for it because it wanted to expose the bluff of the regime.

He observed that the country was facing the grave situation because the regime had blocked the way of liberal democratic forces in the country and this had enabled extremist forces to become powerful. He alleged that the military rulers had systematically disfigured the 1973 constitution which had the support of elected representatives from all four provinces.

Mr Siddiqui contended that due to the regime’s policies, the whole nation was getting bad name and its image was being distorted by western media as terrorist.

Referring to Gen Musharraf’s address to the nation on Thursday, the PPP leader alleged that Gen Musharraf was instrumental in giving new impetus to the ‘military-mulla alliance’ to block the way of liberal democratic forces. He pointed out that when elections were held in 2002, the 9/11 tragedy had taken place. Yet Gen Musharraf cobbled up extremist forces to push liberal forces to the wall.

Mr Siddiqui appealed to the US and other western countries to compel the Musharraf regime to let the liberal democratic parties’ leaders return because, according to him, only these leaders were capable of confronting terrorism and extremism.

“Musharraf does not want to banish terrorists and extremists; he is taking cosmetic actions against them to hoodwink the world opinion in order to prolong his dictatorial rule; in this process, he is punishing innocent people,” he remarked.