Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam (JUI) Samiul Haq Group has announced to boycott next month's parliamentary polls, further undermining the credibility of elections under beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf. Samiul Haq, who is currently a member of the Senate, told reporters here that his party's contenders would withdraw nominations on Saturday.
JUI-S has fielded 24 candidates for the National Assembly and 46 for provincial legislatures mainly in NWFP province-the power base of religious parties. The decision was taken after two days of consultation by party's executive council and a parliamentary board. The JUI-S earlier decided to take part in elections and also unveiled a poll manifesto.
Samiul Haq has rejected polls under Musharraf. A component party of six-party religious alliance, Jamiat-e-Islami (JI) has already announced boycott of the polls.
Four parties of MMA led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman are going to contest elections, on anti-Musharraf sentiments though. Some other parties including PTI and the parties of the Pakistan Oppressed Nations' Movement (Ponam) have already pulled out of electoral process, saying they would prefer to agitate against Musharraf with lawyers.
Sami accused Musharraf's regime of rigging polls, saying, "Impartial and just polls can not be even imagined with a biased election commission, imposition of emergency rule in the country, suspension of judiciary, interference of local governments and use of official resources". These are the same accusations a United Nations rights ambassador levelled when she urged congressmen not to send observers to monitor January 8 polls.
Maulana also smelled a conspiracy to sideline religious forces in the electoral process from deep involvement of US and European ambassadors stationed in Islamabad. The religious leader blamed the so-called liberal parties including PPP and PML-N are going to polls under external pressures mainly from the US.
He feared Musharraf would use the coming parliament to rubber stamped his emergency ruling and other extra constitutional steps he had taken. "These are the issues compel us to go for boycott," he concluded.
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