LONDON, March 27: PML-N Secretary Information Ahsan Iqbal has described President Musharraf’s public meeting in Rawalpindi on Tuesday as a ‘rent-a-rally’ costing Rs1 million per minute to the state exchequer.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday from the PMLN International headquarters, Mr Ahsan alleged that the government had declared local holiday and all government school teachers and departmental employees were forced to attend General Musharraf’s rally in order to make it appear as if it was a highly successful public meeting.

Comparing the president’s rally to that of opposition’s protest day on Monday he claimed that thousands attended the ARD rallies on their own throughout the country despite government crackdown, which he added was a proof that people of Pakistan wanted to see the end of military dictatorship and the resumption of the democratic process and were tired of General Musharraf’s rhetoric, “who is still making promises in his eighth year in power.”

He deplored the use of state funds to draw government employees as captive audience and called it a criminal act and dubbed the speeches of what he called the king's party leaders in the rally as shameful as according to Ahsan no political worker can glorify uniform in politics.

“The turncoat leaders are acting more loyal than the king to protect their future political career,” he said.