ISLAMABAD, Aug 24: Pakistan Peoples Party has predicted a low turnout in the second phase of local government elections, scheduled for Thursday, due to “massive rigging” by the regime in the first phase on August 18.

Talking to Dawn here on Tuesday, the Punjab PPP Information secretary, Mr Naveed Chaudhry, said that people considered it a futile exercise to cast votes when they came to know that the results had been completely changed in various union councils in the first phase of the elections.

The PPP leader claimed that despite massive use of state machinery, the party had managed to gain successes in a large number of union councils in Punjab.

He, however, said that now the government had started bribing the elected councillors to manipulate the elections of district nazims and naib nazims.

Mr Chaudhry alleged that the intelligence agencies had started interference in the second phase of the polls. He claimed that officials of the agencies were giving briefings to the presiding officers regarding compilation of the results after the polling.

Responding to a question, the PPP leader predicted that next general elections in the country would be held in March 2006. He further said that PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto was expected to return to the country by the end of November, this year.

“One thing is sure that Benazir Bhutto will lead the party in the next general polls,” he added.