Nirupama Subramanian
ISLAMABAD: Opposition leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif should not return to Pakistan before the general elections or else the country would witness political turmoil that it could ill-afford at this time, President Pervez Musharraf told Pakistan newspaper owners on Saturday.
The remark, made to a delegation of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society that called on Gen. Musharraf, has cast further doubts about his so-called “deal” with Ms. Bhutto. Despite a highly reported “secret” meeting in Abu Dhabi between the two last month that sparked reports that they had arrived at a power-sharing agreement, the PPP leader has strongly denied a deal.
According to her, talks with the regime for a “transition to democracy” were not working out as Gen. Musharraf had not prepared to meet key conditions for this.
She has said in several recent interviews that she would risk arrest to return to Pakistan “within a few weeks”, while Mr. Sharif, the Pakistan Muslin League (N) leader, has moved the Supreme Court to direct the Government not to obstruct his re-entry.
Agreement
According to the Editor of a newspaper whose owner was at the meeting, Gen. Musharraf said if the Court wanted, the Government could present a written agreement of a “deal” it struck with Mr. Sharif and the Saudi government to end his imprisonment and send him into exile.
Significantly, he also included Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Hussain, a political ally, in the list of leaders who should not return to Pakistan so that a “conducive atmosphere” is maintained for elections.
Gen. Musharraf is apparently trying to distance himself from Mr. Hussain, who is widely blamed for orchestrating on behalf of the Government, the May 12 confrontation with Opposition parties in Karachi that killed more than 40 persons.
Gen. Musharraf reiterated his plan to get re-elected by the existing National Assembly and provincial Assemblies, and said he would get his second five-year-term endorsed by the new Electoral College after the general elections.