HYDERABAD, Jan 10: A candidate for NA-219 Latifabad, Samiuddin Sajid, has retired from the contest in favour of PML-N candidate from the same constituency, Shabbir Ahmed Hyderi, but at the same time, will contest as PML-N candidate from PS-49.

This was announced at a press conference at the press club here on Thursday by Samiuddin Sajid and Shabbir Ahmed Hyderi. Samiuddin Sajid said that he had already informed the returning officer in writing about his decision to retire from the contest.

Mr Hyderi called upon all the democratic forces to unite on one platform to get rid of the military dictatorship. He pointed out that thousands of innocent people have lost their lives at the hands of terrorists and only today many innocent persons were killed in a bomb explosion outside the Lahore high Court.

Condemning the incident, he said that the real target of this explosion were 4,000 lawyers which had taken out a rally and reached the spot only minutes after the bomb explosion. Hyderi said that the explosion was aimed at to terrorise the lawyers to sabotage their protest movement and to find an excuse for the postponement of February 18 elections.

Hyderi, who is a labour leader, appealed to all the workers to vote for PML-N to resolve their problems as the workers had suffered the most due to the anti-labour policies of the present government.

He announced that the election activities of PML-N candidates will remain suspended till Ashura in deference to the sacred month of Muharram.