Polls indicate Musharraf as winner

Opinion polls, conducted by a group of newspapers have given an overwhelming majority to President General Pervez Musha-rraf in the planned referendum.

Figures published by the Urdu-language newspaper, Jang, said 67 per cent of the 21,000 voters, picked for the survey, gave a "yes' vote to the president and only 21 per cent replied in the negative.

The remaining two per cent preferred to abstain. Almost similar results were presented by another newspaper Khabrain, which surveyed 25,000 of its readers.

The survey coincided with the launching of the election campaign by the President who held a massive rally at the historic Minar-e-Pakistan monument in Lahore yesterday. He will address a similar rally in Karachi next week, followed by a rally in Hyderabad and at other towns and cities.

A war of words has simultaneously started between the government and those opposed to the referendum and a polarisation is now clearly visible among political parties on the issue.

The Tehrik-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan said in Karachi yesterday that the agenda of General Musharraf and his party was common. The TI, therefore, has decided to support the President.

The Pakistan Millat Party of former president Farooq Leghari, the Awami Tehrik of Maulana Tahirul Qadri, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-QA), and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (Niazi group) have also announced support for the plan.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) of Altaf Hussain's neutral stance shows that it did not wish to pick up a confrontation with the military.

Imran Khan said the Tehrik-e-Insaaf had considered the issue at its meeting in Karachi yesterday, and was of the opinion that supporting the referendum was in the best interest of the country.

The aim was to ensure a smooth transition to democracy and holding of elections in October this year.

He recalled that it was he who had initiated a campaign against the alleged corruption of former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto and he was pleased they had been barred from coming back to power.