Pakistanis urged to boycott poll

By Jill McGivering
BBC News, Islamabad

The APDM says that the elections will not be genuine

An alliance of opposition parties in Pakistan has called on the public to boycott the polls.

The All Party Democratic Movement (APDM) has launched a public campaign to support their cause.

The APDM includes the party of former cricketer Imran Khan and the religious Jamaat-e-Islami party which was earlier part of an Islamic coalition.

They have found common ground in refusing to take part in the elections which are due to be held on 8 January.

Demands

Just as bigger opposition parties are starting to hold election rallies, the APDM has launched an anti-election campaign.

In a joint statement, they declared that the very basis for the elections was false.

President Musharraf had been re-elected unconstitutionally, they said - and he should quit.

The elections could only be genuine if the judges who had been removed from the Supreme Court were reinstated, they said.

The parties also said the Election Commission and the interim government should be fully neutral and independent, and that restrictions on the media should be lifted.

Unless these conditions were met, they said, the public should boycott the elections.

Their demands may have resonance for many people in Pakistan who are sceptical about the elections and the power of the establishment.

But the main opposition parties - those led by former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif - are taking part.

They concluded that it was better to be part of the political process than excluded from it, even if the process was flawed.

The danger of a boycott movement is that if it proves successful and persuades those critical of the government to stay away, it could help pro-government parties do well in the polls.