PESHAWAR, Feb 1: People’s Party Parliamentarians leader Naseerullah Babar has alleged that Gen Pervez Musharraf’s government will rig the general election and bring hand-picked people into power.

Speaking at a news conference organised by the Shaheed Bhutto Foundation at the press club here on Thursday, he claimed that Gen Musharraf himself had said the next election would by the “mother of all elections”.

He said people were aware that previous elections in the country had been rigged to sideline popular political parties and install non-political entities on the nation. He said a majority of PPP leaders were in favour of taking part in the 1985 non-party elections. He said PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had advised them never to abandon a political platform, otherwise ‘undeserved’ elements would occupy the political firmament.

Mr Babar, who is chairman of the SBF board of governors, said the BSF would launch a book “How Elections Are Rigged” in Islamabad on Saturday. He said the book was a research work on pre-poll rigging, post-poll rigging and rigging during elections. It was an attempt to unearth the unethical mechanism employed by various previous administrations to rig elections and tamper with election results, he added.

He said military rulers had turned the country into a “slave farm”, where people did not have basic facilities. He said floor mills in the country were closed, because the country had failed to produce required grain.

He said the SBF was a welfare platform, which would work in health, education, public litigation and women empowerment fields.

He said development budget of the six tribal agencies was Rs4.2 million in 1972 an the first PPP government raised it to Rs290 million in 1977. He said the PPP had introduced major development schemes in Fata and freed, to some extent, tribesmen from exploitation of political agents and their tribal agents.

He said the SBF had chalked out a long-term programme, which included establishment of a People’s University to provide inexpensive and quality education to students.

A noted lawyer and head of the SBF’s legal aid committee, Qazi Mohammad Anwar, said the SBF would provide free legal aid to victims. He said an independent and bold media was essential for pointing out human rights abuses and other forms of torture in society.

SBF president Dr Kamal briefed journalists on the structure and working of the foundation. He said the foundation would establish a Benazir Teaching Hospital and set up a network of health facilities in the country.

Dr Kamal said the People’s Institute of Democracy, headed by Farhatullah Babar, would organise seminars and publish books on strengthening democracy and democratic norms in the country.

Naazlee Sardar, head of the women empower department of the foundation, also spoke on the occasion.