960401

Nawaz, Noorani demand

caretaker govt for

supervising elections

SHAHID MALIK

LAHORE: PML(N) President Nawaz Sharif and JUP Chief Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani have demanded formation of a caretaker government to supervise the whole electoral process from preparation of voters' lists to actual polling in the general elections which, they stressed, should be held in the current year.

The two leaders were giving a joint briefing to newsmen at the residence of the PML(N) President, where they met for about two hours and found themselves "in agreement on the key issues", though Maulana Noorani made it a point to clarify that the announcement about the identity of views could not be equated with an alliance between their respective political parties.

Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani said that elections under the present ruling party were not acceptable at any cost because the PPP did not believe in elections. That is why, he said, elections for local bodies had not been held so far, despite the fact that these bodies were the backbone of any democratic set-up.

Proposing formation of a caretaker administration along with a new Election Commission, neutral and having full powers, failing which, Noorani warned, people would be stopped from participating in the polls.

Endorsing the views of the JUP Chief, Nawaz Sharif asked the government to see the writing on the wall and realise that with a poor electoral mandate they had enjoyed, fresh polls in 1996 were now inevitable. He made it clear, however, that the revised lists of voters could not be accepted because the revision had to be in line with the Constitution.

Reminded that the formation of a caretaker government would entail an amendment in the Constitution, Maulana Noorani said if an interim government could be installed with Moeen Qureshi as its Prime Minister, surely it was possible to bring in a caretaker Prime Minister even now.

PML President Nawaz Sharif proposed a permanent provision for the parliamentary elections always to be held under a neutral administration. "If a constitutional amendment is required, we shall be prepared for it", he said.

Asked if Imran Khan, who launched his Movement for Justice two days back, was being groomed for the coveted post albeit for three months, Nawaz Sharif avoided a direct answer and did not commit himself either for or against this proposition. The question if Imran would be acceptable to the PML(N) as an interim Prime Minister evoked only a muffled response from the Leader of the Opposition. "I cannot say anything", the journalists were told.