Government accused of using state machinery in local bodies' polls

Pakistan Peoples Party said the government has become desperate in stopping the PPP-backed Awam Dost candidates from contesting the local government elections and it was misusing Zakat & bait-ul-maal funds and DPOs, DCOs, and SHOs are being transferred at large scale to achieve it's negative goal.
PPP divisional co-ordinator Malik Ahmed Hussain Dehar, District President Khalid Hanif Lodhi, Khurshid Ahmed Khan, Khawaja Rizwan Alam and Tariq Raza Khan have levelled serious allegations of unprecedented pre-polls rigging on the ruling party.
The PPP leaders in a press statement demanded that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) should resign, for what it terms, his failure to take stock of the situation and adopt concrete measures.
They said the police had resorted baton charge on the audience of the opposition party meeting in Union Council No 21 and attempted twice to arrest Rana Mehmood-ul-Hassan MNA and Rao Anis, a candidate for nazim.
They said local bodies candidates having full backing of the ruling PML-Q have every sort of official machinery at their disposal to rig the elections and defeat their rivals by hook or crook.
Referring to use of force against opposition candidates in the LB polls, the PPP leaders said all this is contrary to the assurance, which the Election Commissioner had extended to the American Ambassador and other diplomats about fairness and transparency of the LB elections.
They have also accused the government of keeping the CEC under the pressure.
They also blamed the Chief Minister Punjab for going ahead with a worst kind of horse trading in the province. The CM is releasing all development funds to the candidates of his party and added, the pre-polls situation adumbrates that the local government election would not be better than the referendum held by the Martial Law of Ziaul Haq and General Pervez Musharraf for the presidential office.
They said what the rulers are doing with respect to the LB election has badly tarnished the image of Pakistan at the international level.