Time running out for Pakistan deal - Bhutto

[salahuldin786]

Islamabad - Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has warned the country's embattled military ruler that time is running out for them to make a deal, reports said on Wednesday.

In an interview with Voice of America (VOA), Bhutto - who ruled Pakistan twice between 1988 and 1996 - said military President Pervez Musharraf had as yet made no gestures suggesting he was willing to act on her key demands.

Musharraf is trying to win support from the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) that Bhutto leads in order to get through the worst crisis since he seized power in a coup in 1999.


Bhutto, currently living in exile, suggested she wants the military ruler to lift a ban on her returning to Pakistan and drop the corruption charges against her.

'The uniform is not negotiable'
"One thing is certain, that time is running out for General Musharraf's side to reach some kind of an accommodation with the opposition," she told VOA.

"And unless they can come up with up-front gestures, I think it is going to be very difficult, given that nothing has happened since the process began."

Bhutto again declined to confirm a reported meeting with Musharraf in Abu Dhabi last month, where they reportedly discussed making a deal.

She has repeatedly asked Musharraf to give up his military post, saying that his uniform "blurs the distinction" between military and civilian rule.

"The uniform is not negotiable," Bhutto said.

"It is something that is not constitutionally permissible, and it is not negotiable because the whole country is against it, and PPP has spent its whole life fighting to make a distinction between democratic government and military government," she said.

Bhutto said if Musharraf tried to seek reelection before the general elections, due early next year, PPP might resign from parliament or boycott the polls.

Musharraf has said he will get himself re-elected by the sitting assemblies for another five-year term and decide on giving up his post as head of the military at an "appropriate" time.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

47% Pakistanis say yes to Benazir-Musharraf deal

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Around 47 percent of people in Pakistan support a pre-election power sharing deal between former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf, according to a poll released on Thursday by a US think-tank.

The survey by the International Republican Institute found that 37 percent of Pakistanis opposed any such deal. The institute, a Washington-based non-governmental organisation, said it interviewed a randomly selected 4,000 adult men and women in 60 districts across Pakistan between June 13 and July 3. It said the survey aimed to present a “comprehensive analysis of attitudes regarding the Pakistani political landscape”.

Around 62 percent of those surveyed were opposed to Musharraf being elected to a second term by the current assemblies. Some 62 percent of people thought Musharraf should resign as army chief, and 59 percent said free and fair elections could not be held under him unless he doffed his uniform.

Asked if the army should play a role in civilian government, 55 percent said it should not, while 40 percent believed it should. However, 48 percent said they would support Musharraf’s re-election if he first resigned from the army, called parliamentary elections, and then sought re-election by the new assemblies.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\08\10\story_10-8-2007_pg7_28