ISLAMABAD, Aug 5: Information Secretary of the Punjab chapter of People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) Naveed Chaudhry says the option to boycott the local government election is still open and the matter will be discussed in the All Parties Conference (APC) convened by the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) on August 11.

Speaking at a news conference with his deputy, Syed Abrar Rizvi, here on Friday, Naveed Chaudhry said if the opposition parties were pushed to the wall, they would be left with no option but to boycott the LB polls. He said the government parties were violating the election code of conduct but the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was sitting idle.

He said though there were certain announcements from the ECP about the ongoing violations of election rules, no practical step had been taken by the chief election commissioner (CEC) in this regard.

Mr Naveed alleged that the party activists and candidates were being kidnapped and arrested in Punjab and Sindh. He said the police had registered a “fake” case against an Awam Dost candidate from Attock, Dr Naeem Awan, on the insistence of his rival candidate. He said the government was not sincere in its claim of holding free and fair polls.

He alleged that Federal Minister for Labour and Manpower Ghulam Sarwar Khan was openly violating the election code by using official vehicles and loudspeakers in the election campaign.

The PPP leader said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had announced that it was investigating into the alleged corruption by 15 Nazims, but it did not disclose their names. He said the PPP still believed that the country could be brought out of the present crisis only through fresh general elections.

Replying to a question, he said the protest movement against the regime could be launched any moment as, he claimed, the opposition had “successfully” mobilised the public opinion. He said how could the elections be termed non-party when the lists of the candidates were being finalised at Prime Minister’s House and Presidency.

Poll code violation: The media coordinator of the Election Monitoring Cell of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Nazir Dhoki, has urged the Election Commission to take notice of what was happening in the Kashmore district where all codes of conduct were being flouted with impunity, adds our reporter.

In a statement on Friday, Nazir Dhoki said Kashmore district comprised 37 union councils from where PML MNA Saleem Jan Mazari was contesting for the post of district nazim.

The Sindh government has posted majority of police officers in the district from Mazari tribe, who are close relatives and friends of Saleem Jan Mazari. Din Muhammad Mazari, Mukhtar Ahmed Mazari, Raza Muhammad Mazari, Abdul Hakim Mazari, Roshan Din Mazari, Bilawal Mazari, Barkat Ali Dombki and Qamar Din Mazari have been posed as SHO Kashmore, SHO Guddu, SHO Geehalpur, SHO Investigation Kashmore, in charge Investigation Guddu, SHO Buxapur and Additional Investigation respectively.

He said this situation was indicative of the fact that the entire Kashmore district had been handed over to a warlord of Mazari tribe and the administration obeyed his orders. The Sindh chief minister is openly supporting Mr Mazari, he alleged.

Nazir Dhoki warned the regime against starting a tribal war in Kashmore, as there was another strong Bijarani tribe opposing Saleem Jan Mazari and any undue favours to one tribe by the government might result in a serious law and order situation in Kashmore.

He demanded immediate replacement of Mazari police force with neutral police officers so that any threat of bloody confrontation could be avoided. He said despite repeated reminders to the EC of victimisation of Awam Dost candidates and their supporters, the EC had so far failed to take any action.

He said a candidate for the post of nazim, Bashir Mirani, in Union Council Dhadlo, Ghotki, had been picked up by DSP Ghulam Mohammad Mahar and Inspector Mitha Khan Mahar.

Police are conducting raids to arrest Bashir Malik, a candidate for running for the post of Nazim in Union Council Umar Draho, Ghotki. “If the police and administration continued to act like this then there is no chance of a fair, free and impartial elections,” he concluded.