The Hindu : Benazir delivers blunt message

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 01, 2002

International

International

Benazir delivers blunt message

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Oct. 31. The efforts of the Musharraf regime to persuade political parties to form a `consensus or national' government suffered a setback today with the declaration by the supremo of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, that her party would settle for nothing less than complete transfer of power by the military establishment.

Though out of the country on self-exile for over four years now, Ms. Bhutto made it known to all those who matter that she was not only in total command of her party but also that the formation of new government would be on her terms. The message from her was that the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, would have to forget about his controversial constitutional amendments and come before Parliament for his election as the President.

She addressed on telephone the joint meeting of the legislators-elect of her party and members of party's central executive committee and the federal council at the residence of her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who is in jail for over five years on various charges. She is now in Washington in a bid to persuade the Bush Administration to counsel Gen. Musharraf to transfer power to a civilian set-up without further delay.

Ms. Bhutto chose the occasion to formally appoint PPP Parliamentarians chief, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, as the party leader in the National Assembly and lavished praise on him for resisting pressure from various quarters to split the party and align with the rebel Muslim Leaguers nicknamed `King's party'.

The blunt message delivered by Ms. Bhutto is a clear indication that efforts in recent days for a rapprochement between the military regime and the PPP have not succeeded. Her tough posturing undoubtedly complicates the process of government formation in a fragmented National Assembly where anti-Musharraf parties dominate.

Ms. Bhutto told her party members that the PPP will not compromise on its principles of supremacy of the Parliament and inviolability of the Constitution in making a decision whether to form a government or sit in the Opposition. "There is a price to be paid for principles and I am confident that our parliamentarians elected by the people will stand up to the anti-democratic forces and fight for principles even if that entails sacrifice'', she said.

The ex-premier alleged that some anti-democratic forces wanted to marginalise the PPP and asked it to strengthen the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), conglomerate of 14 parties opposed to Gen. Musharraf's policies on the domestic front, to thwart such designs.

Elaborating the principles that will be upheld she said these included supremacy of the Parliament to endorse or reject constitutional amendments, rejection of the Legal Framework Order, rejection of the National Security Council as a supra parliamentary body, election of the President under the Constitution and withdrawal of politically motivated cases and release of political prisoners.

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