ISLAMABAD, July 9: Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) Chairman Tahirul Qadri has termed the Musharraf government a complete failure.

Talking to newsmen at his party office here on Tuesday, the PAT chief expressed his concern over the law and order situation in the country, and said Gen Musharraf had failed to fulfil prmoises made with the nation at the time of army takeover.

Mr Qadri said the Election Commission, judiciary and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) were not functioning independently. He demanded complete independence for the three institutions to give credibility to the government’s claims of holding free and fair elections, across the board accountability and providing justice to the common man.

Referring to the speculations about postponement of general elections, Mr Qadri said, “we will not allow postponement of elections”. He said uncertainty was neither in favour of the military government, nor the country at a time when it was facing external threats. Referring to the ongoing operation against Al Qaeda in tribal areas, he said the government should not compromise on national sovereignty while extending cooperation to international coalition in the war against terrorism.

The PAT chief claimed the government-sponsored National Alliance was in a shambles after his party’s pull out as its chairman Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi and Mumtaz Bhutto had left for London and a leader of one component party Arbab Ghulam Rahim had joined the Sindh cabinet. He asked the government to end ISI’s interference in the political affairs. He said his party had serious reservations on the proposed constitutional package which, he said, would deform political set-up rather then reforming it and create a complete imbalance of powers.

Defending his party’s earlier support to the Musharraf government, he said at that time he was hoping that Musharraf would refrain from treading the path of his predecessor military dictators and would really work for bringing a true democracy. Instead, he said the advisers of the general had put him on the wrong path on every account and he was sliding downwards with every successive step.