BB blames PML for spoiling deal
—vows to confirm return on 14th

LONDON—PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto said she will make announcement to return to country on September, 14 with or without deal with General Musharraf.
She said this while addressing a press conference here Saturday after PPP federal executive council meeting, she alleged ruling PML-Q was the main reason behind failure in clinching deal with general Musharraf It is behind proliferation of militancy in the country, she added. People of Pakistan had to face the problems of poverty, lawlessness and militancy only due to ruling party, she observed.
Citing to her dialogue with general Musharraf she said neither any progress has been achieved nor any reconciliation hammered out so far in this connection. . PPP does not want to compromise on the matters of restoration of democracy and balance of power between president and prime minister.
She went on to say PPP had always and would continue to play its role for the sake of democracy. PPP is representative party of people and it takes decision in accordance with the aspirations of common man.
Fighting for the future of democracy is its manifesto, she claimed. People of Pakistan are moderates, peace loving and progressive and they are not supportive of terrorism, extremism and militancy, she remarked.
The policies pursued by the government led to promote Talibanization in tribal areas. Following general elections 2002 Talibanization gathered momentum, she underscored. People of NWFP and Balochistan rendered unprecedented sacrifices during the independence movement of Pakistan and for its safety and security, she added. It is top priority of PPP to express solidarity with the people of larger province and Balochistan, she added.
She noted that people of Pakistan could no more bear bloodletting. Environment is growing conducive for restoration of democratic order in Pakistan. Time has come I should return to country and play role by becoming part of the movement for revival of democracy, protection of peoples rights and ridding them of terrorism. “ We don’t want martial law or emergency in the country nor the judiciary of Pakistan would allow for it”, she observed.
She went on to say PPP did not support LFO nor did it take part in presidential referendum and it was good decision of PPP. Party had never propped up dictatorship
“ We can not join the folds of a political alliance of those who backed referendum, took part in presidential referendum and lent support to dictatorship, she announced. ARD is still in place and its doors are open for all political parties and political leadership, she noted She informed contacts with Nawaz Sharif have not been suspended, however. —Agencies
PPP is not part of APDM. It is in the manifesto of PPP not to join any alliance, which has presence of MMA unless the religious grouping parts ways with Balochistan government, she maintained.
“ We are major opposition party. Some parties forged alliance with ruling party by leaving aside major opposition party. That party should first of all end its alliance with government and do justice with the oppressed people of Balochistan. Then they can join this alliance, she underlined.
“ I have not talked about settlement of 80 percent matters with general Musharraf and a minister had said so”, she said.
PPP workers have full confidence on the party and they want fair and transparent elections where counting of votes is carried out fairly, she held. They too want Satans don’t cast their votes and votes to be cast by people are protected, she added.
“ We are committed for restoration of democracy. I don’t want to destabilize it after proceeding to Pakistan and rather I want to strengthen it. We want full fledged restoration of constitution in the country”, she asserted.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said on Saturday talks on a power sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf had stalled but she would return to Pakistan within weeks even without agreement.
“No understanding has been arrived at,” she told a crowded news conference in London about her negotiations with Musharraf that would see him quit as army chief and stand for re-election as president, and Bhutto return to become prime minister.
She said talks between her party and envoys sent by Musharraf had been 80 percent successful “but matters appear to have stalled following resistance by members of the ruling party.”
She said the Musharraf delegation had returned to Pakistan for consultations. Asked if talks on a deal could resume, she replied: “This is a question you need to put to them.”
Pakistan, a nuclear power on the front line of the West’s fight against al Qaeda, is facing the risk of turmoil as Musharraf plots his course and former exiled prime ministers Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif prepare to return home.
Bhutto, who has corruption charges hanging over her and could be detained upon her arrival back in Pakistan, said her party would announce the date of her return at press conferences in Pakistan on September 14.
“I plan to return to Pakistan in the next few weeks to work for a moderate, democratic Pakistan that is free from the threat of terrorism and which can address the basic needs of its people,” she told Reuters Television.
“I feel the stage is set for the restoration of democracy and I hope to go back to play my part,” she told reporters after meeting colleagues from her popular Pakistan People’s Party.
She told Reuters she expected to be a candidate in upcoming parliamentary elections.
Bhutto blamed hardliners in Musharraf’s ruling party, who she said had also been promoting militant Islam, for trying to scupper the talks. Nevertheless, the two-week delay in announcing her return plans gives more time for negotiations.
She said the stumbling blocks in the talks had been over the sovereignty of parliament and over the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Bhutto told Sky News “the slide toward a failed state would be difficult to stop” if the political situation in Pakistan was not resolved.
Musharraf was also weighing his options before a presidential election due between September 15 and October 15 that he hopes will win him another five-year term.
A general election is due at the end of the year.
With his popularity plummeting and challenges to his rule mounting, Musharraf must line up support and he has turned to Bhutto for help to broaden his base.
Bhutto has insisted an agreement would hinge on Musharraf stepping down as chief of the army, which has ruled for more than half Pakistan’s history since independence in 1947.
Bhutto also wants immunity from prosecution for herself and others who served in the late 1980s and 1990s.
But many members of Musharraf’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League are alarmed at the prospect of their old rival Bhutto returning to take power from them.
The party is rejecting parts of the proposed deal, including the lifting of a ban on a prime minister serving a third term — which would exclude two-time prime minister Bhutto from power.
The party also objects to another Bhutto demand — that the president be stripped of the power to dismiss governments.
With doubts growing about a deal with Bhutto, Musharraf is considering trying to secure the support of conservative Islamic parties.
But the leader of an alliance of religious parties, Fazal-ur-Rehman, said on Saturday he would not back the president: “No democratic power will be ready to support President Musharraf in parliament.”
Another looming problem for Musharraf, and Bhutto, is the return of exiled former Prime Minister Sharif, the leader Musharraf overthrew in a 1999 coup. He has said he would return on September 10 to challenge Musharraf.
After he was overthrown, Sharif was sentenced to life in prison on graft and security charges. He was exiled in 2000 and could face arrest when he returns to Pakistan.
Sharif’s defiance of Musharraf has raised his standing among the public, some of whom have questioned Bhutto’s motives for negotiating with the unpopular president.
Some members of Bhutto’s party also doubt the wisdom of striking a deal with Musharraf, which they say would prop up a failing dictator.—Agencies