LAHORE, Jan 4: Veteran politician Dr Mubashir Hasan says nobody is going to accept the results of the Feb 18 election, no matter what they are, and the rejection of the poll outcome is bound to lead to agitation.
He says unfortunately the agitators don’t know to what extent those in power can go to quell the protests, and the rulers are unaware of the likely consequences of a mass movement.
Talking to Dawn here on Friday, Dr Hasan said a post-poll crisis could be averted only if President Musharraf convened an all-party conference to discuss all problems facing the country and the participants should also come up with concrete proposals to avoid a 1971-like situation.
“There is no other way to avert the looming crisis without total cooperation between political leaders and the government,” said Dr Hasan, who is Punjab president of the PPP-SB.
Appalled at the situation in Sindh which he visited after the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto, he said the president should take the initiative at the earliest possible.
He said in the proposed APC, President Musharraf should explain why the country was embroiled in a quagmire despite his earnest efforts of the past eight years to solve the enormous problems.
“He is a plain and outspoken gentleman and will not hesitate to take people into confidence that the intelligence reports he receives paint much graver a picture than what is reflected in the media.”
A former finance minister of the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto era, Dr Hasan said since Gen Musharraf could not improve the law and order situation despite enjoying absolute powers during the past eight years, it was inconceivable that the new elected government with political and other enemies all around, and which would have to rely on the existing status apparatus, would do any better.
A witness to the crises of the 1953, 1958, 1969, 1971, 1977 and 1999, the PPP-SB leader said the present situation was more akin to the pre-election situation in 1970 that had led to the dismemberment of the country.
“In a situation when the writ of the government is weak, a free and fair election is like a time bomb.”
Underlining the need for cooperation between the government and the political parties, Dr Hasan said there was no other way to steer the country out of the situation. “People are no longer ready to live under a highly centralised and authoritarian government in Islamabad,” he said. —Ashraf Mumtaz