ISLAMABAD, Nov 27: Information secretary of PML-N Ahsan Iqbal said on Monday that General Pervez Musharraf was politicising the constitutional offices of President and Chief of Army Staff by patronising the ruling PML “which symbolises politics of opportunism and changing loyalty”.

“There are no chances of free and fair elections in the country under General Musharraf because without rigging, he stands no chance of getting re-elected as president,” he said at a press conference here on Monday.

He warned that the federation of Pakistan might come under severe pressure in case of rigging in the next elections.

"The next elections will be a battle for the heart and soul of Pakistan. The fundamental question is whether Pakistan will emerge as a democratic state as envisioned by the Quaid-i-Azam or as a garrison state as envisioned by General Musharraf,” he said.

“There is no danger of Pakistan becoming a theocratic state. The fundamental question is: will it be a military-dominated state or a people-dominated one?” he added.

Mr Iqbal said that the military establishment continued to deny the nation its right to change regime through ballot during the last 59 years while people in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka had exercised this right several times.

“Free and fair election is not a rocket science in today's world. It requires neutrality and impartiality of the state institutions,” he said.

“It is the test of Pakistani military whether it will allow its people to follow the democratic path freely or it will erode the democratic foundations by turning Pakistan into a military state,” he said, adding: “If it decides to pursue the latter, the consequences for both the state and military will be disastrous. There could be voices for external intervention in that case and the country will be ridiculed internationally.”

The PML-N leader said General Musharraf's assertion that next election would be the mother of all elections was outrageous as “he has admitted his role in creation of the ruling party and was still supporting it.”

He said the reports that thousands of people were being inducted in security agencies and education department before elections rang alarm bells.

“PML-N is trying to re-unite the opposition by convening APC on the points of agreement, which include formation of a consensus national caretaker government and election commission to supervise the next election, restoration of 1973 constitution as existed on October 12, 1999, and ouster of General Musharraf,” he said.

The Protection of Women’s Rights bill was a political ploy used to divide the opposition, he said. In last seven years, violence and crime against women had increased, making women more unprotected and vulnerable today than ever before, he added.—Online