LAHORE, June 18: PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal alleges that the NAB has been directed not to carry out investigations against what he calls sugar mafia, land mafia and stock exchange mafia because the government wants to get funds from them for its election campaign.

At a news conference here on Sunday, he said the opposition parties would frustrate the government plans to rig the polls.

The opposition would not let anyone manipulate the elections even if Gen Musharraf wore two uniforms instead of one, he said. He made it clear that the opposition would not let Gen Musharraf impose himself upon the nation for another term.

He claimed that the rulers got $50 billion through various sources after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre. Had the money been used judiciously, Pakistan could have been brought to a status now being enjoyed by Malaysia. But, he regretted, that instead of improving the conditions, the rulers created a situation that even the city of lights — Karachi — was having to face long spells of loadshedding, and the people elsewhere were using contaminated water as a result of which many had lost their lives and others had fallen sick.

A former deputy chairman of the planning commission, Ahsan Iqbal said overseas Pakistanis had sent $20 billion to their country after 9/11. Another $14 billion had been purchased by the State Bank from open market; $3 billion had come from the privatisation proceeds, $7 billion had come in foreign assistance and another amount of $6 billion were taken in loans. He said the rulers would have to account for the money.

He disputed all government claims about the progress made by the country in various sectors. He said Pakistan’s ratings had gone down in the eyes of various international organisations.

He said one report said Pakistan was a “non-democratic and non-free” country.

He said the signing of the Charter of Democracy did not mean that the PPP and the PML-N had become one party or had made electoral alliance. The CoD, he explained, was a set of principles the two parties had agreed to adhere to. He said other ARD parties would also sign the CoD at a meeting in London on July 2.

He said the ruling PML was critical of the PML-N for its cooperation with the PPP despite the fact that a breakaway faction of the same party was a coalition partner with the rulers.

Ahsan Iqbal claimed that there was a tremendous change in the situation, and the rulers would lose the next elections. The future, he said, belonged to the opposition.

He said it was wrong to say that Nawaz Sharif had breached his oath by speaking about the Kargil conflict. The former prime minister, he said, had said he would record his statement about the controversy in camera so that the nation could know about the facts.

Zaeem Qadri, Bilal Yasin, Mian Marghoob and Mian Mujtaba Shujaa were also present at the news conference.