KARACHI, Sept 11: Masses will take to the street soon without mobilization by any political force if the government failed to address the pressing issues confronting the common man, according to PML-N leader Mamnoon Hussain, who enlisted skyrocketing prices of essential commodities and rising unemployment among the pressing problems.

Mr Hussain, a former Sindh governor, said on Sunday that people’s response to the combined opposition’s call for a countrywide strike was encouraging as people, on a short notice, defied government pressure to express their resentment against the government’s policies.

He indicated that people’s requirements viz-a-viz the holy month of Ramazan were bound to widen the gulf between the government and people if it did not come up with some relief to the poor population. However, he said, he did not see any positive measures by the government which, instead of learning from the people’s resentment during the strike, was concentrating only making others believe that the strike was a failure.

The PML leader was of the view that the strike had also paved the way for the formation of a grand national alliance comprising all democratic forces, and hoped that the regional parties like Jamhoori Watan Party, Balochistan National Party and Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party would also join in the alliance which would launch a massive movement for the restoration of genuine democracy.

In reply to a question, he said that in the six-year rule of Gen Musharraf, the government’s chief concern appeared to be damaging national level parties. In the general election-2002, he observed, the PML-N was damaged through manipulation and was deprived of its 50-60 seats in Punjab. In the recently-held LB polls, he added, the government adopted the same policy in Sindh to deprive PPP of its strongholds. However, in the long term this would prove to be detrimental to the national interest, he warned, adding that weakening the parties that believed in federation, would ultimately strengthen nationalist forces and consequently the situation would pose a threat to the country’s integration.