HARIPUR, April 3: The president of the NWFP PML (N), Pir Sabir Shah, has said pro-democracy parties, which are not in the B team of the military regime, may enter into an alliance, as government is poised to introduce what he called “test-tube democracy” in the country by sidelining the leadership of the mainstream political parties.

“But prior to that we need to determine the rules of the game vis-a-vis the role of opposition and the ruling party,” he said, while talking to newsmen at a “Roo Baroo” programme of Haripur Press Club the other day.

Mr Shah did not rule out the possibility of an alliance between the Pakistan People’s Party and the PML-N, but said that when the regime was employing “every undemocratic tactic” in blocking the way of certain political parties, the situation did not permit the leadership of the parties to get united on a single platform.

About the return of Nawaz Sharif and the strategy of his party for the general election, he told the newsmen that the exiled leader would come back soon and lead the party, which was going to filed its candidates in almost all the constituencies.

He made it clear that his party would not boycott the polls despite certain hardships, being created for the party.

On the referendum likely to be announced by President Pervez Musharraf, Mr Shah, who remained the chief minister of the province for a brief period after the 1993 polls, called upon the President to go for a right and constitutional way and hand over power to elected representatives after holding free, fair and transparent polls.

“It’s not fair to give them (the military rulers) any permanent role in the governance because one day people from other institutions would also demand the same which is not justifiable,” he said.

Replying to a question, he held the government responsible for the social chaos and the hike in the prices of consumer goods, causing an unprecedented gape between the income and spending, which, according to him, had led to a sharp increase in the number of suicides.