HYDERABAD, March 26: The Sindh chapter president of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, Mr Zain Ansari, has said that Gen Musharraf’s days in power were numbered as the ARD and other opposition parties had resolved to force him out of power before June this year.

Speaking at a news conference at the Hyderabad Press Club on Sunday, he said that the joint opposition would send the government packing with the support of 150 million Pakistanis.

He said the prime minister’s helplessness in bringing the tariff of electricity and gas and prices of essential items under control proved that he was only a “rubber stamp” and could not run the country’s affairs.

Mr Ansari said lawlessness was the order of the day in Sindh with hundreds of mobile phones and wallets being snatched everyday, and those who were to protect peoples’ lives and properties were themselves killing innocent people. “When policemen turn dacoits and robbers who will protect the law-abiding citizens,” he asked.

He said ancient villages were being demolished but there was no one to hold the oppressors’ hands.

Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) expressed its resolve at a recent meeting in London that the “generals’ raj” would be replaced by “peoples’ raj”, Mr Ansari, who belongs to the PML-N, said.

“Why America, which says it is fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq to restore democracy, has turned a blind eye to six-year military dictatorship in Pakistan,” he said adding although of late it had stressed the need for a democratic dispensation in the country.

He said that only Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto who had their roots among people could save the country from complete destruction.