HYDERABAD, Nov 27: The Awami Tehrik chief Rasool Bux Plaijo on Tuesday urged the All-Parties Democratic Movement to stand by its earlier decision to boycott general elections, arguing that “taking part in the fraudulent elections would be tantamount to accepting dictatorship, Marshal Law, unconstitutional and immoral PCO and rule of generals.”

Mr Palijo told journalists after attending a meeting of his party’s central committee that it was a foregone conclusion that elections being held under emergency would not be fair, free and impartial.

The central committee believed that even the general elections and Musharraf’s doffing them uniform could not solve the multidimensional crisis the country was faced with, he said.

He demanded that Gen Musharraf should quit power, form a government comprising all the political parties, retired judges, lawyers, journalists and civil society members, which should restore the constitution, reinstate Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and other sacked judges, lift emergency, remove curbs on media and hold elections for a new constituent assembly.

Mr Palijo termed Balack Mari’s killing as murder and said it had dealt a telling blow to the oppressed nations’ movement but his martyrdom would infuse new blood in the struggle as “the blood of martyrs never goes in vain”. The meeting observed one-minute silence as mark of respect for Mir Balach Khan Mari who was reportedly killed in mysterious circumstances a about a week ago.

The veteran politician welcomed the return of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto and paid rich tributes to Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and sacked judges, lawyers, journalists and civil society members for laying down sacrifices in the struggle for the restoration of democracy.

He said the rulers had converted the country into an imperialist colony and Gen Musharraf was bent upon destroying the country by resorting to unconstitutional measures.

He said the rule of Gen Pervez Musharraf was a continuation of the dictatorial regimes of Ayoub Khan, Yahya Khan and Ziaul Haq. No less than 50 judges of superior judiciary had been placed under house arrest and senior lawyers, Ali Ahmed Kurd, Aitizaz Ahsan, Tariq Mehmood and Munir A. Malik had been sent to jails, he said.