LAHORE, April 9: Opposition parties could not mount enough pressure to dismantle the present set-up and force premature polls because people were facing serious economic problems and were unable to spare time for an anti-government movement, ARD Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim said here on Sunday.

Answering reporters’ questions at the residence of ARD deputy information secretary Munir Ahmed Khan, he indicated that now the opposition alliance would like the polls held on time, in 2007.

If opposition parties approached the electorate to get their support, achieving targets would become easier, said the ARD chief in a frank conversation.

“You have been struggling for fresh polls since the existing assemblies came into being, but President Musharraf has been saying that legislatures would complete their constitutional terms. Will the completion of the term be regarded as a success or failure of the opposition parties?” a reporter asked.

The Makhdoom said so far the opposition parties had been calling for premature polls, but they could not create pressure for the purpose. “But now, 2007 is not far away. Now our demand is that the elections must be free and fair and all parties and exiled leaders must be allowed to participate.”

The ARD chairman alleged that the federal and provincial governments had the “skill to rig the polls and, therefore, must be replaced before the next elections”. “We don’t trust them,” he said of the present setup.

Mr Fahim also stressed the need for an independent and powerful election commission, whose staff were appointed in consultation with opposition parties.

Referring to statements made by various ministers about the timing of the new polls, the ARD leader said the ministers appeared to be confused about the situation as no one knew about the shape of things to come. He said that a minister had said that the existing assemblies would re-elect Gen Musharraf as president while another had said that the task of choosing a new president should be left to new legislatures. “All this showed that nothing was clear.”

He denied reports about an ongoing dialogue between the government and opposition parties.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim said there was a consensus between the ARD and the MMA to restore the Constitution as it existed before the 1999 military intervention. He said the PPP on its own, or with the cooperation of other opposition parties, would “annul all post-coup amendments” through a two-third majority in both houses of parliament.

Mr Fahim did not clarify if the opposition parties would boycott the polls held at a time when Gen Musharraf was still president.