Terming the upcoming elections as “mother of all elections” that would determine the destiny of the nation, President Musharraf rubbished a spate of opinion polls that showed him and his political allies depleting in public opinion.

Addressing a conference on “Elections for national unity”, Musharraf pledged the elections would be held on February 18 expressing his determination to ensure these are fair, free, impartial, transparent and peaceful. He warned that attempts at agitation would be dealt with sternly.

“Nobody would be allowed to disrupt the polls and derail the nation’s journey to true democracy,” he said adding that even after elections any effort to bring people on road in the name of protests against rigging would be crushed.

He assured his personal guarantee that the polls would be free, fair, transparent and peaceful. “We have taken every step to ensure that these are actually seen to be transparent” he said while emphasising that major political parties are taking part in the elections. Those boycotting the polls would not be allowed to spoil the atmosphere and create a law and order situation.

Musharraf repudiated a series of opinion polls conducted by international organisations through the Pakistani NGOs “Who abuse us”. These polls have shown the popularity of Musharraf and the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim Leagure (PML-Q) having nosedived.

Musharraf said similar opinion polls in India had predicted landslide victory for the ruling BJP that prompted it to advance the election date. Ultimately the BJP suffered a stunning defeat. He said these NGOs are unaware of ground realities particularly in the rural Pakistan where nearly 70 per cent population lives.

In an apparent reference to Nawaz Sharif, Musharraf said leaders of a major party are distorting facts and figures to mislead the people about tremendous development experienced by the country in recent years.

Sixtyfour per cent of Pakistanis favour President Pervez Musharraf's resignation, saying it would improve stability and security in Pakistan, according to a new BBC World Service poll.

Only one in four (25 per cent) say that security would get worse if he were to resign. Just 29 per cent regard Pervez Musharraf's election as President held in November last year as valid, while 49 per cent say it is invalid (22 per cent did not provide an answer).

In one of the most striking findings of the poll, almost two out of three Pakistanis (63 per cent) say that the National Assembly should reinstate Iftikhar Chaudhry as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court following the general election.Only 19 per cent say the Assembly should not seek Chaudhry's reinstatement.

The poll of a nationally representative sample of 1,476 Pakistanis was conducted by Gallup Pakistan using in-home interviews from January 27 to 28.

Asked about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, only a small minority (16 per cent) believe the Pakistani government's contention that the Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and his Al-Qaida linked network are responsible.The largest number (39 per cent) believe that "the Pakistani security agencies or people linked to them" are responsible. Twentyfour per cent say that some other party is responsible and 21 per cent say they do not know. (The poll was taken before the release of the Scotland Yard report largely affirming the Pakistan government's account of how Bhutto died.)

Looking ahead, Pakistanis are divided about whether the general election scheduled for February 18 will be "free and fair." Fortyfour per cent say they are very (11 per cent) or somewhat (33 per cent) confident that they will be free and fair. Fortysix per cent say they are not very confident (27 per cent) or not at all confident (19 per cent).

Overall, Pakistanis do show some cautious optimism that the situation in Pakistan will improve over the next six months. Fiftyone per cent say they are very (16 per cent) or somewhat (35 per cent) optimistic that conditions will improve. In contrast, 39 per cent say they are very (19 per cent) or somewhat (20 per cent) pessimistic.

Kathmandu, February 14
The Nepalese police has claimed that the kidney transplant racket kingpin Amit Kumar had secret Valentines who used to send him SMSes professing their love and support while he was on the run.

The love messages sent to Kumar, who was deported to India last week after his arrest from a jungle resort in southern Nepal were by women other than his wife according to a police officer.

Police sources said the tainted doctor appeared to have romantic relations with more than one woman.

One of the SMSes to Kumar recorded in the police file says: “Jaan, take care I’m with u, don’t worry. OK. I love u very much.” The sender’s name began with the letter “A”, who has used a Canadian SIM card. ‘The Himalayan Times’ reported.

Another message sender asked him not to worry. The message read: “Never hesitate in taking risks and working hard b’coz you have to dive deep into the sea to find the pearls” adding “Hav a gr8 day, Love.”

These messages were sent from two different SIM cards, according to the police, which believes that none of the SMSes were sent by Kumar’s wife, who is also based in Canada.

The police came to known about the SMSes while interrogating Kumar at the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police’s Crime Division after his arrest.

The alleged kidney don also frequently visited casinos dance bars and night clubs here during his brief visits to Nepal, the police said.

International criminal Charles Sobhraj was also arrested from the Casino Royale here in August 2003, following which he was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing an American woman in Kathmandu in 1975. — PTI

Despite looming uncertainty for holding the Constituent Assembly (CA) polls slated for April 10 due to ongoing violence agitation unleashed from different groups, the visiting delegation of Congress, a major constituent of ruling alliance in India, on Thursday expressed hope that Nepal would be able to hold the election successfully on time.

Talking to journalists before wrapping up their three-day visit, Digvijay Singh, general secretary of the All-India Congress Committee, said, “Since the Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and other ruling and opposition leaders have expressed their firm commitment to hold the election on slated date, we are very optimistic for timely election in Nepal.”

Regarding the ongoing agitation unleashed by different armed and unarmed Madhesi groups in southern region and other groups in eastern part of the country, Singh said, “All political parties and agitating groups who believe in democracy should find a solution through negotiations with the government and create a conducive enviroment for the elections. Then only Nepal can charter democratic constitution and address their all issues permanently.”

However, Singh advised that the ruling seven-party alliance of Nepal should take immediate initiative to find an amicable solution without making any compromise for its national integrity and sovereign power.

Talking about their recent meeting with Prime Minister Koirala, Singh said, PM Koirala was ready to address all demands put forward by Madhesi groups except two issues-the United Nations’ intervention and Nepal’s sovereignty and integrity.

He also reassured that India would never intervene in the sovereign power of Nepal and said India as close neighbor, ready to provide all kinds of support to Nepal to establish vibrant democratic system, lasting peace and stability.

Applauding the role of SPA leaders for taking initiative for ongoing peace process and Maoists leaders’ decision to adopt democratic system by renouncing violence based on Maoists ideology, Singh said, “The Maoists should demonstrate their political honesty and increase their credibility by internalising all past pacts and understandings reached with the government in practice.”

Veerappa Moily, former chief minister of Karnataka and member of delegation, said, “We support all those forces, which will empower this country’s sovereign power and India oppose all that oppose the democratic aspiration of the people of Nepal.”

London, February 14
The European Commission has announced plans to curb human trafficking and new immigration measures for entry into the European Union from 2015. The plans, announced in Brussels under the European Border Management Strategy yesterday, include biometric measures and entry/exit register to monitor the entry and exit of people from non-EU countries that require a visa.

The European Commission estimates that there were nearly 8 million illegal immigrants within the EU in 2006. An estimated 80 per cent of them were within the border-free Schengen area. In 2006, nearly 5,00,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended in the EU, official figures said.

Jonathan Faull, director general of the European Commission’s Justice, Freedom and Security department, said: “The new measures would expedite the visa process for genuine travellers from third countries. — PTI