HYDERABAD, Oct 18: People’s Party Parliamentarians MNA Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur has said party chairperson Benazir Bhutto has constituted a 12-member committee to evolve a strategy about the future course of protest on the floor of the National Assembly.

He was talking to journalists at his Latifabad residence here on Saturday.

Mr Talpur said the country was in the grip of political, constitutional and economic crisis and the situation was going from bad to worse with each passing day.

He said the government was raising dead issues which had affected the unity of the country and created a sense of deprivation among the people of the smaller provinces.

Referring to the coming election for the post of the district Naib Nazim of Dadu, the PPP leader said the government machinery, especially the police, was working to get what he called government’ candidate, Zahid Jatoi, elected. He alleged that councillors were being harassed by the DPO, Tipu Sultan.

However, he claimed that PPP-backed Awam Dost Panel candidate Dost Mohammad Jaiser enjoyed the support of 1,300 voters out of 1,600.

He warned the government against interference in the election for the Naib Nazim seat.

About the plight of sugarcane growers, Mr Talpur said mill owners were victimizing them and not paying them the government-fixed price for their produce.

He also criticized the government for failing to implement its notification regarding the sugarcane price.

He recalled that last year the government fixed minimum price of sugarcane at Rs43 per 40 kilograms and the mill owners had also to pay quality premium. However, he added, the mill owners defied the order and paid the growers Rs40 per 40 kgs.

The MNA regretted that the mill owners, despite being directed by the prime minister to start the crushing season from Nov 1, had announced that they would start the season from Dec 1. He said the reason for the delay in the crushing season was that sugarcane lost its weight and produced more sucrose if kept for more time.

He said due to the delay in the start of the crushing season the wheat production would also decrease as wheat was grown on the land after harvesting sugarcane crop. Answering a question about the Legal Framework Order, the PPP leader said his party would accept it only after it was passed by parliament.

SPSC: The controller of examinations, Sindh Public Service Commission, Hyderabad, has announced the results of the written part of the competitive examination for the selection of candidates for BSc and MSc Forestry course 2003-2005 at the Pakistan Forest Institute, Peshawar. The tests were held in September.

DEMO: A large number of displaced Sindhi families, under the banner of the Sindhi Qaumi Saath, held a protest demonstration outside the press club on Thursday to protest against the inordinate delay in their rehabilitation. They demanded that authorities concerned should expel the people who had taken over possession of lands in Sehrish Nagar illegally.