NOWSHERA, Feb 12: Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali has said the all-parties conference being held next month is aimed at preventing Gen Pervez Musharraf’s re-election as president from the present assemblies and ridding the country of the army ruler.

Speaking at a news conference at the residence of district PML general secretary Ikhtiar Wali here on Monday, the PML-N parliamentary leader in the National Assembly said his party would not accept elections under the present rulers and would seek establishment of an independent election commission for the purpose. The PML-N would not accept any role of the armed forces in politics, he added.

Mr Ali said his party would use all democratic and constitutional options to rid the country of the dictatorship.

He said the APC was being held to put pressure on the military ruler to hand over power to an independent caretaker setup which should hold free, fair and transparent general election and transfer the power to people’s representatives.

He said it was a decisive phase in the political history of the country and it was up to political parties either they supported with Gen Musharraf or worked for establishing democracy in the country.

The PML-N leader said his party would not strike any deal with the government. He said the government had failed to establish its writ and criminal gangs were operating everywhere.

He said the murder of Ikramullah Khattak, a brother of Pervez Khattak, president of the PPP (Sherpao), proved that no one was secure in the country. Mr Ali said the government had turned the country into an “American client state”. “Our curriculum is being prepared on instructions of the US government. Our children are being taught English poems eulogising the jingoism of George Bush. We have been made hostage to multinational companies,” he claimed.

He urged the government to name army generals who had visited PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and asked for political support from the PPP.

He said the military uniform was a requirement of the “Chaudhry brothers and other non-entities”, and not the country.