QUETTA, Jan 27: The All Parties’ Democratic Movement has said that taking part in what it termed the farce of election held under the Musharraf government would be tantamount to betraying the people.

At a public meeting held at the Gul Khan Naseer Chowk in Nushki on Saturday, leaders of the alliance said there would be no political stability in the country without recognising the rights of the oppressed nationalities. They said Pakistan was a multi-nation state and there was no place for a unitary form of government in a federation.

National Party chief Dr Hayee Baloch, acting president of Balochistan National Party (Mengal) Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldani and secretary-general Habib Jalib Baloch and Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s deputy secretary-general Abdur Rauf Lala addressed the gathering.

They said the government had launched military operations in Balochistan, Waziristan and Swat and thousands of Baloch people, including their leaders Nawab Akbar Bugti and Nawabzada Balaach Marri, had been killed.

They said anti-democratic forces had targeted the Baloch and Sindh leaders to suppress the political movements of the Baloch, Pukhtuns and Sindhis and continue to plunder the resources of the oppressed nations.

They accused anti-Balochistan forces of adopting extra-constitutional means to subdue the voice of the nationalist forces.

They said the forces representing the oppressed people had gathered on the APDM platform to struggle against the exploiters.

They appealed to the people to boycott the election scheduled for Feb 18 and back the demands of the APDM to force Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf to quit as president, restore the pre-Nov 3 judiciary, form a caretaker government in consultation with political parties, hold transparent election and hand over power to the majority party. They said participation in the electoral exercise would legitimise the unconstitutional acts of the government.

They urged the leaders of the opposition parties which were contesting the polls to join the boycott and wage a struggle to rid the nation of dictatorship and restore genuine democracy.