UPPER DIR, Nov 19: Imposition of emergency rule in the country has isolated Pakistan internationally, besides plunging it into a crisis domestically, says the Pakistan People’s Party’s candidate for NA-33, Barrister Mohammad Islam Khan.

In a statement issued here on Monday after a meeting with the party’s provincial president, Rahim Dad Khan, and Arbab Alamgir in the Peshawar Central Jail, he said that while Gen Pervez Musharraf’s move was being resisted at home, it was widely condemned abroad.

He feared that if emergency was not lifted, the country could face a more serious crisis. “Only the PPP can steer the country out of the present crisis,” he said.

Expressing concern at the fragile security of party’s chairperson Benazir Bhutto, he demanded of the government to ensure fool-proof security of the party leader. The PPP leader urged the people to strengthen Ms Bhutto’s hands for the sake of a better future for the country.

He asked the government to install an impartial interim government which was acceptable to all political parties, adding that the government should ensure the holding of free, fair and transparent elections.

He said the PPP would fight against dictatorship and put the country on path to democracy. The party’s workers, he said, would not hesitate to render sacrifices for this cause, adding that the government had arrested a large number of party workers.