Pak. parties call to restore democracy

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, AUG. 6. A meeting of political parties in Pakistan has urged the military Government to announce an early schedule for the restoration of the democratic process, derailed in October last year following the coup.

A declaration adopted by the conference at the end of the day- long deliberations in Lahore on Sunday flayed the Musharraf Government for failure on several fronts and endorsed an eight- point agenda for the return of democracy.

The conference was significant as it was the first attempt, since the military take-over, to bring together political parties of all hues on the same platform, to adopt a common programme to pressure the military to go back to the barracks.

While it is premature to guess at this juncture whether the conference could pave way for a `broad alliance' among the political and religious parties against the Musharraf Government, it is no doubt a significant event on more than one count.

Reports from Lahore said representatives of 38 political parties, including the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami participated in the conference. The general consensus was that the Government, which had raised high expectations when it took over, had failed to deliver and things were beginning to slip out of control.

However, the military Government does not face a serious threat due to factionalism and fragmentation of the political forces.

The conference convened by the octogenarian leader of the Pakistan Democratic Party, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, was seen as a feeble attempt by political forces to take on the Army. Mr. Khan had the distinction of being in the forefront of every major Opposition movement in Pakistan.

But, thanks to his initiative, for the first time, arch political rivals, the Pakistan Muslim League of Mr. Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan People's Party led by Ms. Benazir Bhutto, joined hands in denouncing the military Government, though the leaders of the two parties could not be present at the conference.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Next     : Speight can receive family visitors