HYDERABAD, Sept 9: The PML (N) candidates for NA-219 and PS-49, Shabbir Ahmed and Mohammad Gujjar, respectively, have accused the rulers of using third-degree methods to pressure the candidates of democratic parties to join the king’s party.

They were speaking at a news conference at the Hyderabad Press Club on Monday.

The president of the city chapter of the party and the in charge of election cell, Haji Din Mohammad, and other party leaders were also present on the occasion.

They lashed out at President Gen Pervez Musharraf for his utterances that democracy was not the basic problem of Pakistan saying that this was an insult to the leaders of the Pakistan Movement.

They demanded to the President to tender an unconditional apology to the nation for his utterances.

They also took exception to the President’s statement that there was no trace of loans worth billions of dollars obtained by the previous governments, and added that being a soldier, the President should not be blind to the smoke which came out of the Chaghi mountains, the Kahuta nuclear plant, and the Lahore-Rawalpindi Motorway.

They asked, “Where have the yellow cabs, the yellow tractors, and the communication network come from?”

They pointed out that the country was in the grip of an unprecedented political, economic, and constitutional crisis, and the enemy had a huge concentration of forces on the front line, while the armed forces of Pakistan were engaged in politics.

They said that the dictators had distorted the 1973 Constitution and the two major political parties, which were the symbol of the federation, had been stopped from taking part in the election process through the enactment of “black laws”.

They claimed that to protect democracy, the federation, and the constitution, Nawaz Sharif had foiled the conspiracies of the rulers by withdrawing his candidature to express solidarity with the people of Sindh and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto.

They said that two PML candidates had withdrawn their nomination papers in the larger interest of the country in favour of Makhdoom Mohammad Amin Fahim and his son, Jameeluzzaman, for Hala seats.

They appealed to the people to vote for the “lion” to strengthen the hands of Nawaz Sharif in the larger interest of the federation of Pakistan.

REWARD: The Regional Police Officer, Hyderabad region, Abdur Rauf Yousufzai, has given a cash award of Rs1,500 to ASI Ghulam Abbas Walhari, Rs1,000 to head constable Rahib Khan and Rs800 each to police constables Mohammad Arif and Hussain Ali, all of the Cantonment police station.