Participation in upcoming general elections would tantamount to bailout the dictator, providing him safe passage and legalising his illegitimate rule, said Imran Khan, Chairman, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) here on Friday.
The people who would contest the elections, would be considered equally responsible for the murder of judiciary, Imran Khan said while talking to media men after a seminar "Crises of judiciary, media and rule of law" organised by Pakistan Medical Association at PMA Auditorium.
Khan told media men that forgetting the valiant judges who rejected the dictator would result in constitutional disaster. President Musharraf has planned to rig the elections. All political parties should unite and boycott the election to save the country, he said.
He said that elections drama is being played only to legitimise the extra-constitutional measures of President Musharraf. The rigged elections would cost billions of rupees to the nation. Replying a question he said that there is great risk for Benazir Bhutto and Maulana Fazalur Rehman after validation of illegal tyranny through elections, if her party could not win majority then what would be her future.
Earlier, addressing the seminar, Imran Khan said that the present movement started by the lawyers and media was the second largest civil society move after independence through which a new Pakistan would born. He said that supremacy of law is given great importance in civilised societies. Muslim ruled the world for seven centuries only due to their strong legal system. Today Pakistani nation has an opportunity to change its destiny and secure the future for the coming generations, he observed.
"The caretaker setup has everything for election rigging including own judiciary, own election commission, own machinery and own law. If the papers of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif are rejected then at what forum they could go for justice," Imran said. He said that the judges inducted after the emergency have no credibility and morality among the people. Musharraf wants only to save his regime. No country and society can survive without strong and independent judiciary as it provides base for good governance, he remarked.
"We would make efforts to unite all the opposition parties to boycott the general elections hoping that PPP would also support boycott call," he added. Former Governor Sindh Fakharuddin G Ibrahim, poet Ahmed Faraz, former President Supreme Court Bar Association Hamid Khan, president District Bar Association Rawalpindi Sardar Ismatullah, senior lawyer Athar Minallah, intellectual Kamran Shafi and President PMA Dr Arshad Rana also spoke on the occasion.