PESHAWAR, Aug 10: The Pakistan People’s Party (Shaheed Bhutto) has said that unless a timetable for the pullout of Nato troops from Afghanistan is announced, acts of terrorism will continue in the country.

Addressing a joint news conference here on Friday, PPP (SB) provincial president Mohammad Zahoor Azad Qureshi, central president of women’s wing Seema Rafique and central information secretary Inyat Hussain called on the government to constitute a national commission to investigate the cause of lawlessness, including suicide bombings in the country.

They said an early pullout by Nato troops from Afghanistan might help in stemming the tide of multi-dimensional terrorism on both sides of the border. Rulers were pushing the country into a political quagmire by pitting Pakistan as a frontline state against the so-called war on terrorism, they added.

They alleged that the rulers had deprived the country of its independent and sovereign status among the comity of nation by siding with the invading forces in Afghanistan, which had worsened the law and order situation in the country.

The PPP (SB) leaders alleged on that on hand rulers were carrying out the agenda of imperialist forces, while on the other hand innocent people were being targeted across the country. They said the common people, who had no say in the political process of the country, were a victim of unemployment, violence, abject poverty and price-hike.

The socio-economic problems could be reduced if all federating units were given full autonomy, they observed. They called for delegating administrative and political powers to the lowest step of the government ladder to bring about a change in the lives of people. They proposed that the education, health and police departments should be put under the control of elected councillors as they were the real representatives of the people at the union council level. They demanded the president to doff of his uniform and ensure free, fair and transparent elections in the country under the supervision of an independent election commission.

They accused the rulers and some opposition parties of engaging in ‘non-issues’ to divert the attention of people from the suffering of flood victims in Sindh and Balochistan. They urged the democratic forces to join hands against the anti-people and anti-democratic forces in the coming general elections.