KARACHI, July 18: Pakistan Peoples Party’s coordination committee has rejected the proposed constitutional amendment package and the Political Parties Ordinance, observing that the purpose of these laws is to keep Benazir Bhutto out of the political process and to provide constitutional cover to the dictatorship.

The committee, which met here on Wednesday at the Bilawal House, with Syed Qaim Ali Shah in the chair, was attended by Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, Aftab Shaban Mirani, Prof ND Khan and Taj Haider.

It stated that the proposed laws should be seen in the context of governments efforts to bar Benazir from contesting elections and becoming prime minister for the third time.

The laws, the committee said, were aimed at rendering the elected parliament and prime minister useless by concentrating all powers in the office of president and the National Security Council.

“These powers of the president would open gates of large-scale horse-trading and blackmailing in the politics of the country”, the committee said and added that Benazir Bhutto symbolized the aspirations of 140 million people of the country and had been striving steadfastly for the rights of the people.

The committee said the condition of graduation would alienate workers, farmers and other poor sections of the society from the national political currents. “If the purpose of intra-party election is to reform the party culture, the PPO could have been enforced two years back providing ample opportunity to all the parties to hold elections in their respective organisations,” the committee noted and pointed out that the PPP had duly elected Benazir Bhutto as the party chairperson after holding elections in its different tiers.

The committee warned that the proposed changes would deepen the crisis.