This will heartache or heartburn for the Nawaz league.
Polls under Musharraf acceptable: Fahim
People’s Party Parliamentarians chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim has said his party will participate in the general election under an independent election commission and interim set-up in the presence of President Gen Pervez Musharraf. Talking to journalists here, he said if the government made the election process transparent, the PPP would participate in the polls. Mr Fahim, who is also chairman of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, said an independent election commission and an interim government should be established through consensus. He said the PPP was ready to hold talks with any party, including the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, on national issues
http://www.dawn.com/2006/11/30/top2.htm
Re: Polls under Musharraf acceptable: Fahim
Nawaz’s party may find it hard to accept elections under Musharraf, but even they are not ruling it out now.
PML-N rejects PPP stance
The PML-N on Wednesday took strong exception to a statement of Makhdoom Amin Fahim, president of PPP Parliamentarians and chairman of the ARD, that elections under a caretaker set-up of President General Pervez Musharraf were acceptable to them and that they had not decided to boycott them. Talking to Dawn, PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal said that the ARD had not yet taken any decision on whether to take part in or boycott elections under General Musharraf’s caretaker set-up, and Mr Fahim’s statement, issued in New York, could be based on his personal views. He said he believed that Mr Fahim had not made the statement in his capacity as ARD chairman. The PML-N firmly believed that elections under General Musharraf could not be fair, free and open, he said, adding that the past record proved that his government knew no limits of squandering state resources, politicising state institutions and carrying out rigging for getting its turncoats elected.
However, Mr Iqbal said, the issue of taking part in elections under General Musharraf would be decided in consultation with the ARD and other opposition parties at the time of the announcement of election schedule. “If the opposition decides to take part in elections under protest, as it had done in 2002, it will not mean that it trusts General Musharraf. In fact, it will be aimed at depriving him of winning two-thirds majority in the parliament for changing the constitution,” he added. When contacted, a senior PPP office-bearer said that Mr Fahim had not stated anything new and there was no need for any person or party to raise objection to it. Since no opposition party had so far hinted at boycotting the forthcoming elections, Mr Fahim had the right to say that they would take part in elections under a caretaker set-up. However, Mr Iqbal said even if a caretaker government was constituted under General Musharraf, its role would be no different from that of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his cabinet.
http://www.dawn.com/2006/11/30/top3.htm
Re: Polls under Musharraf acceptable: Fahim
Fahim saying the same thing over and over again, and marching to the tune of the President-General. :jhanda:
PPP ready to contest polls under Musharraf: Fahim
Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Vice-Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has declared that the party will not boycott the elections even if it were held under the government of President Gen Pervez Musharraf. Makhdoom Amin Fahim said this while talking to newsmen at the party’s secretariat on Saturday after the weekly lecture programme arranged by the party. The water expert, ANG Abbasi, was the guest speaker with the provincial and local leaders attending. He said the PPP would not leave the field open and would participate in the election as the party did not believe in boycott and pointed out that the PPP was facing the after-effects of the boycott of 1985 election. The PPP leader said that the party believed in democracy and election was a part of democracy. He said the PPP already had declared that the party would not object if the present regime held election after fulfill the conditions of the party. Makhdoom called for the setting up of an independent and autonomous election commission to hold the election in fair, free and impartial manner and suspend the powers of districts and towns and Tehsil Nazims before the election were the conditions of the PPP.
He said all the political and religious parties participated in the election held in 2002 under Gen Pervez Musharraf’s government. He said the experience of that election was not good but the PPP would not object if the government fulfilled all conditions of the party and elections were held in a fair, free and impartial manner. Makhdoom said that the PPP participated in the election held under the government of Gen Yahya Khan in 1971 and late ZA Bhutto decided that party would participate in this election while some of the party leaders opposed it. When he was asked whether the PPP would boycott the election if Gen Pervez Musharraf held them, and the conditions of the party was not fulfilled, Makhdoom said that the party would not repeat the 1985 mistake. He declared that the PPP stand was clear and party did not believe in solo flight and wants to bring all democratic forces on board. He urged all the opposition parties to unite and continue struggle for the restoration of democracy and the 1973 Constitution. Makhdoom said that without consensus among four federating units the construction of Kalabagh Dam would be harmful to the country.
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=35956