KARACHI, Feb 6: The Pakistan People's Party on Sunday called for general elections this year to avert threats the federation is facing because of the 'anti-people polices' of the government headed by General Pervez Musharraf.

The party declared that it would fully participate in the upcoming local bodies elections to empower the people against the oppressive system.

Addressing a news conference here on Sunday, the secretary general of the PPP Sindh chapter, Nafees Siddiqui, said the party's cadre at the grassroots level would be mobilized for the local bodies elections throughout the country. He claimed that a plan had been worked out in accordance with the instructions of the party chairperson Benazir Bhutto to take decisions according to ground realities.

He said that the PPP's natural ally was the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), but added that electoral adjustments could be made according to local conditions and in consultation with the local leadership.

He criticized the Sindh government for pushing for the appointment of administers in place of Nazims, ahead of the local government elections, and said it was not only against the spirit of the local government laws but also tantamount to pre-poll rigging.

He alleged that Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim was appointing administrators to manipulate elections and vowed not to let him get away with it. He pointed out that besides serving his own interests, the chief minister had submitted to the pressure of his coalition partners who had been pushing for fragmentation of existing districts. He referred to the divisions of Larkana, Dadu and Jacobabad and the demand to divide Hyderabad, mainly on ethnic lines, and said it was part of crude attemts aimed at manipulation of elections.

Mr Siddiqui said that because of the government's wrong policies the country was today confronted with serious constitutional, economic and political crises and the federation itself was facing a severe threat. The constitutional crisis, he added, had been created by measures taken by the regime to perpetuate one man's rule over 140 million people and its attempts to subvert the 1973 constitution by empowering the military, instead of the people.

Mr Siddiqui, who was accompanied by the party's provincial deputy information secretary Waqar Mehdi and Bilawal House spokesman Jameel Soomro, demanded that if the military operation was not on the cards, in Balochistan, the government should dismantle military posts there and resolve the problem in consultation with the people of the province. He warned that it would be a big mistake to undertake any military operation against the Baloch people who were demanding their basic political and economic rights.

He stressed that the government should hold talks with all political elements inside and outside parliament to resolve the Balochistan crisis, in the larger interest of the country.

Referring to Nawab Akbar Bugti's reported statement that the 1973 constitution was not acceptable to the Baloch people because their representatives had not accepted or signed it, he said that the constitution had been adopted with the concurrence of all political parties represented in parliament. However, due to military interventions it could not be fully practiced, resulting in a sense of deprivation and alienation. He, however, made it clear that he had nothing against Nawab Bugti.

He reiterated his party's opposition to the Kalabagh dam which, he said, was a matter of life and death for the people of Sindh and vowed to oppose its construction. If there was consensus on the Bhasha dam, he said, why work on the project was not undertaken during the past four years. He said the government's insistence on Kalabagh was a clear manifestation of its intention to serve on the interest of only one province.

Answering a question, he said that the powers which supported Gen Musharraf for his role in the war against terrorism must note that soon after the 9/11 tragedy, the PPP, which secured the largest number of votes in the 2002 elections, had come out with strong condemnation. Even the ANP, MQM and other liberal parties had condemned it.

He insisted that in view of the mounting crisis there was no option left for Gen Pervez Musharraf except to hold general elections this year.