KARACHI, Feb 8: The PPP candidate in the NA-250 by-election, Nafees Siddiqui, has expressed doubt over the Election Commission’s neutrality alleging that the EC is not only helpless but also in the control of the administration.

He demanded that Rangers personnel, instead of police, be deployed inside and outside polling stations.

Addressing an emergency press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday, Mr Siddiqui, accompanied by Rafiq Engineer and Rashid Rabbani, said that the February 10 by-election was a test case for Gen Pervez Musharraf and his government vis-à-vis the upcoming general elections in terms of transparency.

He said his party had no faith in the ‘powerless EC’, indicating that it had failed to respond to the PPP’s communications in which the EC was informed at every stage about the conspiracies aimed at rigging.

Mr Siddiqui said despite ‘manipulations’ on the part of the government, the PPP would not boycott the election to that the conspirators and their conspiracies could be exposed.