QUETTA, June 1: Activists of political parities in the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) held a demonstration outside the press club on Sunday in protest against price hike.

They called upon the government to reduce the defence budget in order to provide relief to the people.

The protesters raised slogans against what they called the unprecedented rise in prices of food stuff, growing lawlessness and unemployment.

Usman Kakar of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Malik Wali Kakar of BNP-Mengal, Moheem Khan Baloch of the National Party and Zahid Akhtar of the Jammat-i-Islami addressed the protesters.

They said the price hike and lawlessness were the result of unwise policies of the previous government and now the people were made to suffer for the wrongdoings of the rulers.

They said that the huge non-development expenditures were causing problems for the people.They demanded a major reduction in the defence expenditure in the 2008-09 budget.

They said the judicial crisis had made the political situation unstable.

They demanded reinstatement of the deposed judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, to steer the country out of the present impasse.

Some of the speakers criticised the Awami National Party for its rapprochement with the MQM, and said the ANP had held the MQM responsible for the May 12 tragedy but after coming into power it had changed its stance.