HYDERABAD, Feb 27: The Sindh Democratic Forum, a civil society think tank, on Wednesday reminded leaders of Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz that on Feb 18 people had in fact voted for rule of law and democracy and rejected outright the polices of ‘military-mullah-feudal-terrorist alliance’.

In an open letter to Asif Ali Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif, the forum comprising writers, intellectuals, academics and technocrats, that people now expected of them to implement the charter of democracy signed between their parties in letter and spirit.

The forum leaders including Abrar Kazi, Zulfiqar Halepoto, Mohammad Ibrahim Joyo, Fazalullah Qureshi and Nazir Ahmed Memon said in the letter that the elections had offered a unique opportunity to rectify the wrongs after a long and dark night of dictatorship, tyranny and suppression. The nation had in fact voted out Pervez Musharraf and his obscurantist allies and sycophant feudal lords, they said.

“We congratulate you and the leaders of Awami National Party (ANP) on having been able earn people’s trust. They expect that you will be able to form governments at the centre and the provinces that will put an end to the consequences of the misrule of previous military regime of Gen (Retd) Musharraf,” the leaders said.

They reminded the victors that the anti-Musharraf vote meant that people wanted an end to Musharraf government’s policies, abeyance and de-facing of the constitution, sacking of higher judiciary, divisions between people on sectarian, ethnic and linguists lines, total breakdown of law and order, spiralling prices, unemployment, increasing social and economic disparity between the rich and the poor, encouragement of terrorism through so-called war on terror, handover of cities to an ethnic organisation in Sindh and rural districts to the feudal lords who, together had completely ruined the province socially, economically and politically.

The major points of their policy should be: principle of tolerance between the political parties and acceptance of each other’s mandate wholeheartedly, empowerment of parliament through strong parliamentary committees, reinstatement followed by independence of judiciary and military establishment under civilian control including the parliament’s power to scrutinise defence budget, they said.

They said that the parties’ victory to a large extent was an outcome of the youth of Pakistan who poured onto the streets to vote for them. This potent and extremely valuable human resource should not be abandoned at any cost, they advised.

They said that policies must be initiated to create education and employment opportunities for youths and carry out massive electrification of the country through a new energy policy, using indigenous raw material like coal.

“We as a nation are at crossroads facing grave economic, social and political crisis while at the same time, elections have thrown up a unique opportunity of hope,” they remarked.

The issues like genuine provincial autonomy, a fair National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, military operation in Balochistan and some parts of North Western Frontier Province, status of Fata and Northern Areas, the control of natural resources, fair distribution of water, issue of demographic stability of federal units, poverty eradication, provision of clean drinking water, universal education and health facilities were the major challenges that should be left to the respective provincial governments to tackle, they said.

They said that all these issues were not only mentioned in the charter and the manifestoes of the victorious parties but the leaders had also been repeating them in their speeches time and again.

“If you will be seen moving in the right direction, even at slower than expected pace, people have the sense and understanding to wait and allow you space,” the SDF leaders said.

Ms Benazir Bhutto’s martyrdom and the sacrifices rendered by all the people who laid down their lives for the revival of democracy and a better Pakistan from Oct 12, 1999 to Feb 18, 2008, had made it doubly important for the leaders to fulfil promises.

“Do not fail them because this may be the last chance that the nation have got after a very long time to improve the standards of their lives and the country,” the letter said.