LAHORE, Jan 19: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on Sunday rejected some politicians’ demand for fresh elections and an interim government.

Talking to reporters at Aiwan-i-Karkunan-i-Pakistan where he attended the death anniversary of Mohammad Husain Chattha, he said it was hard to understand why some politicians had started demanding an interim government when President Musharraf had already met their demand for holding elections.

The chief minister, terming the demand for fresh polls unjust and useless, said levelling rigging charges by the losing candidates had become a routine which should be eradicated for strengthening the democratic system.

He said the agenda for the next session of the Punjab Assembly on Jan 29 would be finalized during a cabinet meeting on Monday. The agenda would include important issues pertaining to the welfare of the people, he said.

Earlier, speaking at the ceremony, the chief minister said the government wanted to rid society of oppression, injustice and illiteracy in accordance with the principles of the Quaid-i-Azam and his comrades.

Paying tributes to the late Mohammad Husain Chattha, the CM said he was considered a close associate of the Quaid-i-Azam and remained committed to the supremacy of democratic principles even after his (Quaid’s) death.

The chief minister declared 2003 as the Madr-i-Millat Year, and said directions had already been issued to observe it in educational institutions and local governments. He paid rich tributes to Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah and announced the construction of a memorial in her name in a park near the Nazria-i-Pakistan Foundation secretariat on The Mall.

The function was presided over by Majid Nizami and addressed by Dr Javed Iqbal, Chaudhry Naeem Husain Chattha, Azizul Haq, Begum Mahnaz Rafi, Begum Bushra Rahman, Prof Abdul Jabbar Shakir and Abid Husain Chattha.