MIANWALI, May 1: There was a mixed reaction on Wednesday to the results of the presidential referendum.
Former federal minister and People’s Party leader Dr Sher Afgan Khan said the people of Mianwali district have rejected the referendum.
Mr Khan said the people of Mianwali like other parts of the country had rejected the presidential referendum as all the polling stations remained deserted throughout the day.
He said government employees and local bodies staff were forced to cast ‘multiple’ votes in favour of Gen Musharraf. Police were used to force people travelling in buses and trains to cast vote. Despite using all government machinery, the turnout was not more than 10 per cent, he claimed.
Dr Afgan said the public response to referendum was an eye opener for the military regime.
He also criticized the politicians who gathered people for PTV films. He called Gen Musharraf a dictator, who had usurped people’s rights and independence by removing a democratically elected government.
FAISALABAD: The pro-government parties — the PML(QA), the Pakistan Awami Tehrik, the Millat Party and the Tehrik-i-Insaaf — termed the referendum results a ‘great success’ of the general.
They claimed that the people had rejected the boycott appeal of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy as voters’ turnout was unexpectedly high.
The results left no space for the leaders living in foreign countries to take part in national politics.
The parties opposed to the presidential referendum refused to accept the result terming it ‘engineered result’ and thanked the people for boycotting the referendum.
They claimed that the military regime had already violated the constitution and all norms of justice to prolong its rule.
Some of the city shopkeepers told this scribe that the referendum was a joke with the nation. Almost all of them said they had fun on April 30 as they cast votes more than once which was a clear violation of the election rules and reflected the performance of agencies concerned.
Ms Najma Habib of Jinnah Colony claimed that she cast nine votes. When asked why she cast more than one vote, she said: “The results had already been prepared and the referendum was a drama to hoodwink masses.”