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Political parties blamed for Oct 12 action

RECORDER REPORT

FAISALABAD: Rehmat Khan Verdek, Senior Vice President, Tehreek-e-Istaqlal (TI), has endorsed the Army action of October 12 and categorically warned that political parties wou1d he held responsible if martial law was clamped in Pakistan.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday he said that Nawaz Sharif himself paved the way for the ouster of his government.

He not only committed blunders but also deviated from the set democratic norms annoying the political as well as non-political forces. Opposing any movement against the present set up. He said the Chief Executive has given schedule for the Local Bodies elections and we must wait for the next two years for the restoration of democracy.

"We can neither term present set up as 'martial law' nor one can say that Nawaz tenure was democratic, he said and added that democratically present set up is far better than the so-called democracy.

He was critical of the previous governments and said as many as 4,500 industrial units have been declared sick and laying closed only due to the ill conceived industrial policies of the previous governments, he alleged and said that the present government is trying its best to revive the industrial sector.

He said the present government has taken number of decisions to bring about radical changes in the political, social and economic systems.

He criticised the faulty agricultural policies of the previous governments and said that farmers with less than 25 acres of land be given maximum incentives.

Zulfiqar Khan Niazi, Divisional Convener, TI Dera Ghazi Khan, Abdul Hayee and other office-bearers of the TI were also present during the press conference.