PESHAWAR, Feb 7: PPP provincial president Rahimdad Khan has urged President General Pervez Musharraf to hand over power to an independent caretaker setup for holding free and fair elections and transfer power to the victorious party.

Mr Khan was speaking at a news conference organised to welcome UC Nazim Tariq Mateen into the PPP at the Peshawar Press Club here on Wednesday.

Tariq Mateen, a former activist of Jamaat-i-Islami, said the PPP was a party of the masses which had gifted mega projects to Peshawar during its rule. He said he and his supporters would work for the success of PPP candidates in the next general election.

Mr Khan said the PPP had always sided with the masses in their struggle for rights. He said the Kalabagh dam was an anti-people project due to which the PPP opposed it.

He said the corrupt and opportunists had tempered with the political system of the country and devised a new system, facilitating exploiters and dictators.

He said the rulers had failed to provide employment to educated youth, control the increasing price-hike and stem the tide of lawlessness across the country.

“Citizens are afraid of suicide bombings in big cities. Even worship places like mosques, imambargahs and churches are not safe,” he said. “It looks as if there is no government in the country. Rulers are concerned about their personal security.”

The PPP leader criticised the declining standard of health facilities in the province. Opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani preferred Lahore for treatment, he said, adding that civil officers too sought treatment from a private hospital in Hayatabad rather than approaching big public-sector hospitals.