SWABI, Aug 5: Former senior provincial minister Sirajul Haq on Sunday predicted that 2007 would herald the downfall of dictatorship.

Addressing workers of the Jamaat-i-Islami here, Mr Haq, who is also a leader of the party’s provincial branch, said that he earnestly wanted to exorcise the country of dictatorship’s demon and in the current situation people’s maturity was a big achievement.

The people, he said, were now aware of the intentions of the rulers who had always deceived them.

Later, talking with journalists he said that even if Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif struck a deal with Gen Pervez Musharraf, they could not save the government from crumbling. Advising the government to quit, he said the best option was to hold election under a neutral set-up.

Any deal by either of the leader would spell a political disaster because people might interpret that they were not really interested in restoration of real democracy and had only taken up the cause of democratic order so that they could come to power.

He said that anyone who accompanied the president in his sinking boat should expect the same fate. “Let them (Benazir and Nawaz) do whatever they think is best but they will have to face people’s wrath in addition to negative fallout of their policies.”

He said that it seemed political leaders were incapable of even presenting a workable formula for overcoming the current crisis and it seemed that their statements focussed on derailing the people’s movement but “this time, they would not succeed”.

The people, he said, clearly knew about the “intentions of our leaders, who (always) look towards the US in all their affairs and American leaders, who have already declared that they will target Pakistani areas”. But he warned that Americans would end up paying “a big price” if they decided to go ahead.

He said Islamic system was the best solution for overcoming the current crisis and religious parties had raised their voices.

The JI has already announced the names of candidates from two National Assembly and six provincial assembly seats from Swabi district.