|
End game nears for Musharraf and Bhutto
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur |
|
|
|
|
Nov 8, 2007, 14:46 GMT
Islamabad - Former Pakistani prime minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has for months slung mud at President Pervez Musharraf in public amid talks with him behind the scenes about a power-sharing deal that brings her back into government.
Now, after the country of more than 160 million people was effectively placed under martial law by the military leader and with her supporters hungry for action, the liberal politician can no longer hedge her bets.
'It's a question of credibility, ' political analyst Hasaan Askari said. 'Unless there is some kind of conciliatory gesture (from the president) it would be very difficult for Benazir to step back, because like Musharraf she also loses face and credibility. Therefore the situation is moving towards greater confrontation. '
Speaking in the capital Islamabad this week, Bhutto said she had been negotiating with Musharraf for a transition to full democracy but that Saturday's imposition of emergency rule and suspension of the constitution was 'illegal, unconstitutional and immoral.'
'The government played dishonestly, now it is the time for the storm to rage,' Bhutto said, issuing an ultimatum that Musharraf must restore the constitution and the media, step down as army chief, commit to holding scheduled elections, and release thousands of detained lawyers, judges and political activists, including 400 workers from her Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
Otherwise she vowed to lead a mass march on the capital from the central city of Lahore on Tuesday.
Musharraf, an army general who seized power in a 1999 coup, has justified emergency measures in the face of rising militant violence and negative effects of an unruly judiciary, saying he could not allow the country to 'commit suicide.'
Bhutto is not alone in her demand for an end to the emergency. As well as other opposition parties calling for a climb-down, the United States, the chief backer of counter-terrorism ally Musharraf, warned that its patience was not 'never-ending' and that he must soon return to the path of democracy.
Under Pakistan's political framework, parliamentary polls should be announced by November 15 to take place within three months.
Lending to the confusion, Musharraf told a meeting of security heads Thursday that the election will take place by mid-February. He added that 'no resistance to the imposition of emergency will be tolerated' and that 'all means' will be used to control protests.
His remarks came on the eve of a planned PPP rally in Islamabad's twin city Rawalpindi, fuelling the likelihood of a bloody showdown with Bhutto despite their earlier contacts.
Backchannel talks secured her return home in October from eight years of self-exile, with the prospect of closure of outstanding corruption cases against her. She was also thought to be lined up for a third term as premier, while in exchange Musharraf would bolster his plummeting popularity with support from her party.
But with the stakes rising rapidly, it may now be impossible for either leader to back down. And while she left the door open for a last-minute compromise, Bhutto may have already forced her own hand.
'She has probably been left with no other option. It was appearing to everyone that she had abandoned her role in the PPP and was compromising her party to a point where she would have lost the elections,' retired army general and political analyst Talat Masood said.
'I think that in close harmony with the United States she is working out that between the 9th and 15th of November she will really mobilise her party (against Musharraf),' he added.
However, Bhutto's supporters are as confused about the meaning of the events as the rest of the population.
As he tried to remove coils of police barbed wire preventing PPP demonstrators from reaching the parliament on Wednesday, Sain Taj, 50, said he still did not understand his leader's plans.
'It is possible that this time she might have decided to rise up against the dictator - I have come here with this hope,' said Taj, who was dressed in a shalwar kameez long shirt and trousers made from the party's red, black and green flag colours.
'Musharraf's policies are anti-poor and we will resist them,' he said, chanting the stock protest slogan of 'Go, Musharraf go' together with scores of other party faithful.
Bhutto's apparent manoeuvring to fulfil her personal goals has fuelled scepticism of her democratic credentials but she is still seen as being able to redeem herself.
'Her latest aggressive posture can still force the dictator's hand to return the country to sanity and stability,' the Pakistani daily The News said Thursday after her ultimatum to Musharraf.
'But this can come about only if such a stand were sincere and made in all honesty and not as a pretext to gain more concessions for herself and her party.'
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur |
|