ISLAMABAD: PPP stalwart Raza Rabbani said on Monday that ‘a conspiracy is being hatched’ by certain elements to delay general election for two to three years. He added that efforts were also being made to create conditions similar to those in 1977.

Talking to Dawn after presiding over a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PNSC) and before his departure for Manila to attend an international conference on corruption, the Senator warned: “A sword (of Damocles) is hanging over democracy and it would continue to be there till the election of prime minister after the polls.”

He alleged that a plan was on the anvil to force formation of an unconstitutional caretaker government for two to three years.

It may be mentioned that the idea of a government of technocrats for a period of upto three years has been doing the round for quite some time and even senior media personnel and political analysts have been discussing it and pointing out its implications for the democratic process.

Although government circles have so far been avoiding to say anything about it, Senator Rabbani’s warning indicates that the matter is not being taken lightly by men in authority.

When asked to name the conspirators, the Senator said anti-democratic forces wanted to derail democratic process. He called upon forces committed to the cause of democracy to unite against the enemies of democracy.

In an apparent reference to the demands made by Dr Tahirul Qadri, he said any move to dissolve the Election Commission would be a violation of the Constitution. There was no other way to remove a member of the commission except through the process envisaged in the Constitution, he said.