Pak. parties to hold rally for elections

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, APRIL 8. Encouraged by the recent decision of the Pakistan Supreme Court to order re-trail of the former Prime Minister, Mrs. Benazir Bhutto, in a corruption case, the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) today decided to hold a rally at Karachi on May 1.

The leaders of the Alliance, at a meeting in Peshawar, declared that they were determined to go ahead with their rally on the Labour Day as part of their campaign urging the military to return to the barracks and order immediate elections for restoration of democracy.

The ARD, a grouping of 18-odd parties, including the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), opposed to the continuation of the military Government, had tried unsuccessfully to hold a rally in Lahore on March 23. In a major swoop on the eve of the proposed rally in Lahore, the police not only arrested a number of leaders and activists of the Alliance but also sealed off the premises where the rally was scheduled to be held.

Other than issuing critical statements against the military Government, the Alliance leaders could do precious little to force the regime to reconsider its decision against the rally. The decision of the Supreme Court to quash a verdict against Mrs. Bhutto in a corruption case and order her re-trail last week has certainly come as a bit of a boost to the low morale of the ARD.

In a way, the apex court verdict has also been a source of embarrassment to the Alliance. After all, the corruption case against Mrs. Bhutto was initiated during the regime of Mr. Nawaz Sharif as the Prime Minister.

It is no coincidence that the Nawaz party has so far not reacted to the apex court verdict. Party loyalists were supposed to meet in the national capital today to take stock of the latest political developments including the split in its ranks but there was no word till this evening about the meeting.

In a separate statement, a PPP spokesman contested the view of the Attorney General that the Supreme Court has not acquitted Mrs. Bhutto in the corruption case and maintained that the statement showed ``the face of a bad loser''.

The party claimed that Mrs. Bhutto, in her appeal against the lower court verdict, had sought acquittal and the first sentence of the short order of the Supreme Court is ``appeal upheld'' and the convictions have been set aside.

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