Govt and PPP have agreed to interim govt for polls: Wardag

By Qamar Jabbar

LAHORE: The government has finalised a deal with the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) to hold the upcoming local bodies elections and midterm polls under the supervision of an interim government, Rehmat Khan Wardag, Tehreek-e-Istaqlal (TI) president, told Daily Times on Sunday.

“There are high chances that the local bodies elections will be postponed till December and that an interim government will be set up after the upcoming budget session,” he said.

He said that the PPP leadership was ready to accept General Pervez Musharraf as president for another term if the local bodies and general elections were transparent. He said that the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had more supporters than the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and would form a government if elections were fair.

Wardag said that the PML leadership had failed to implement President Musharraf’s policies. He said that the process to hold corrupt officials accountable had not been carried out to the president’s satisfaction. He said that corruption cases against parliamentarians and district nazims had been forwarded to the president and action would be taken against them soon.

He said that the Punjab chief minister had promoted 355 sub-inspectors to inspectors and appointed them to various districts on the request of treasury members. He claimed that the PML had appointed district police officers (DPO) to various districts to undermine the politicians of opposition parties.

Wardag said that Asif Ali Zardari, PPP leader, and Shahbaz Sharif, PML-N leader, should play an important role in the proposed interim set up. He said that government negotiations with Shahbaz would soon be finalised.

He said that President Musharraf’s seven-point agenda could not be implemented in letter and sprit during the last three years because of the ruling party’s negligence. “Musharraf wants to complete major projects like Kalabagh Dam and other reservoirs, but the rulers have failed to bring about a consensus among the provinces,” he said. He said that the World Bank was ready to give a loan for the construction of the dam if all provinces agreed to the project.

He said that the president’s popularity had declined amongst the general public because of the ruling party’s negligence. He said that President Musharraf had to hold public meetings to deliver his message to the public.

The TI leader said that the president wanted the local bodies elections to be fair and impartial. He said that if the elections were held under the supervision of the PML, then the party would win. He said that if this were the case, then the election results would not be acceptable to other political parties. He said that elections under the supervision of an interim government would ensure that new elected officials follow the president’s agenda.

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