An outspoken top leader of pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has called opposition rivals power hungry and short-sighted, blaming they were risking Pakistan's integrity for political gains.
Former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and PML-N of former premier Nawaz were trying to come to power through 'backdoors', fearing humiliating defeat in February polls.
Addressing an election meeting here, he said both the parties did not stand up to the expectations of the masses when they were in power and the people would reject them keeping in view their past.
Pervaiz Ellhi, who is a prime minister hopeful, lashed out at the PPP, saying it caused disintegration to the country for the sake of power. "Pakistan People's Party would soon be divided into four parties as once it did with the country," he said.
He said the PPP was responsible for creating mayhem in Sindh after the assassination of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto. Elahi told a public meeting that the report of the inquiry commission, constituted to probe into the riots after Benazir Bhutto's assassination, would soon be made public and the real culprits be identified.
The Former Punjab chief minister also grilled Sharif brothers and blamed them for cheating people. He said both Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif had been declared disqualified and they have no political future.
"There is no such example in any country when the party leadership has been disqualified, but they are begging votes," Ellahi ridiculed. He said Sharif brothers were trying to get some seats in the parliament to blackmail the government to get them eligible for the next elections in exchange of their support.
"They want to come in power through backdoors. One brother says he does not want to shake hand with President Musharraf while the second is eager to meet Musharraf," he added.
He said PML-Q was the real Muslim League and people have rejected both the PML-N and the PPP. He challenged both the major opposition political parties to face his party in the election field instead of seeking formation of a consensus government and postponement of general elections.
Recalling achievements of his government in Punjab, Pervaiz Elahi said around 11 percent of the development budget of the province was spent in the Southern Punjab to remove the sense of their deprivation.
He said the PML-Q would continue the development projects after winning elections, promising to redress the problems faced by the residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.