By NNN-PTI
Islamabad : Pakistani media Tuesday slammed the country’s government for rounding up leaders of opposition parties ahead of the presidential polls to facilitate Pervez Musharraf’s re-election for another five-year term.
A number of leading newspapers warned the government that the arrests would only lead to more political turmoil in the country and said the act would favour the opposition outfits that constitute the All Parties Democratic Movement.
In its editorial, leading Pakistani daily ‘The News’ said, “It is perhaps the first time that a government has detained opposition party MPs so as to prevent them from resigning from Parliament.
“The crackdown is aimed at preventing the opposition from doing anything untoward — in the government’s eye that is — that affects the smooth re-election of President Pervez Musharraf.”
Warning that difficult times are ahead for the Musharraf regime, the newspaper said: “This hamfistedness shatters the government’s often-repeated claim that it wants to give all political parties a level playing field in the coming elections in Pakistan.”
“While the opposition seems to be more than willing to do this, to further the cause of democracy, the same cannot really be said of the government,” it said.