KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto will lead the election campaign through a video link because of a threat to his life, said Sindh PPP Secretary General Taj Haider on Sunday.

While addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Sunday, Mr Haider, who was flanked by other party leaders, said in order to take the party message to every home the PPP had released its CDs containing party programme, anthems and a message of the party leadership.

In reply to a question, he said that the PPP did not have any electoral alliance with any party and it would not even like to have an alliance with any other party.

Pleading for lifting a ban on arranging transport for the voters, Mr Haider said if the ban was not lifted it would create difficulties for the poor people to reach polling stations, particularly in rural areas, to cast their vote.

He said the voters ought to be given the right to cast their vote on their permanent or present address to facilitate them.

He said the PPP was the party of masses that had served the people. He said that on the basis of its service record, the party expected that people would elect PPP candidates to continue to serve them and complete the ongoing mega projects of public welfare.

Referring to the ongoing Rangers targeted operations, Mr Haider said some workers of the party were recently picked up by the law-enforcement agency from Lyari and Golimar. But he expressed hope that it would not be an obstacle in the election campaign.

He said that the party had pursued the national reconciliation party in the best interest of the people of this country.

Prof N.D. Khan, who is an old guard of the PPP, said that whenever fair and free elections had been held in the country the PPP had swept the elections. He said the initiation of Benazir Income Support Programme and Waseela-i-Haq scheme directly benefited the poor people. He sounded confident that the party would get record success in the upcoming elections also.

Those present at the press conference included Senator Saeed Ghani, National Assembly candidate from NA -250 Rashid Hussain Rabbani, Syed Waqar Mehdi, Habib Junedi, Shama Arif Mithani, Lateef Moghal, HM Ghanchi and etc.

Lack of security

Mr Mehdi, who is information secretary of the party’s Sindh chapter, expressed his concern about non-availability of security to PPP candidates for the upcoming election in the province, adds APP.

In a statement on Sunday, he said that despite acknowledgement by the caretaker set-up itself about the serious security threats to the PPP office-bearers and party ticket holders for polls 2013 little attention was being paid towards the apprehensions expressed by the PPP.

The Sindh PPP information secretary appealed to the Election Commission of Pakistan to take immediate and serious note of the PPP requests for provision of security to its candidates and workers.

“This is extremely crucial so that no finger could be raised about impartiality of the election commission as well as the interim government,” he said.

He added that a delegation of the Sindh PPP would soon meet caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Zahid Kurban Alavi to apprise him of their concerns.