Bhutto eyes sharing power in Pakistan
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Farhan Bokhari from Islamabad
PERVEZ Musharraf, Pakistan's embattled president, has held talks over sharing power with Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister who lives in exile. However, he left unresolved the issue of his dual role as head of the army and leader of the country.
After three days of official denials from the government and members of Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's party (PPP), a government minister last Sunday confirmed that Pakistan's president had met Ms Bhutto in Abu Dhabi last Friday in an effort to strike a power-sharing deal.
Sher Afghan Niaz, the minister for parliamentary affairs, said: "A meeting has taken place, the two [Musharraf and Bhutto] are having a direct dialogue."
The two are thought to be working on a deal that would boost the president's political strength while allowing the opposition leader Ms Bhutto to come to Pakistan and become prime minister for the third time.
But General Musharraf, who is going through the weakest period of his eight-year rule, is facing growing opposition to his role as president and army chief as he seeks another five-year term. On Friday, 13 people were killed and 40 injured in a bombing near Islamabad's Red Mosque after authorities tried to reopen it for the first time since military troops stormed it this month.
Speaking on the Pakistani television station KTN at the weekend, Ms Bhutto said a key sticking point in talks was Gen Musharraf's reluctance to resign from the army to meet demands by opposition groups for a return to civilian rule. "We do not accept President Musharraf in uniform," Ms Bhutto said. "Our stand is that, and I stick to my stand."
In the past, the president has denounced both Ms Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister arrested in the bloodless coup in 1999 that brought Gen Musharraf to power.
Shaukat Qadir, an analyst on political and security affairs, said the talks represented "a complete turnround for General Musharraf". A senior leader of the PPP in London, where Ms Bhutto has held party meetings for the past week, said: "They have even agreed on the name of an interim prime minister to run the government for 90 days during which the election campaign and elections will take place." Hamid Nasir Chattha, a veteran Pakistani politician known to both Ms Bhutto and Gen Musharraf, was said to be the consensus candidate.
..............................
Under syndication
arrangement with FE
PERVEZ Musharraf, Pakistan's embattled president, has held talks over sharing power with Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister who lives in exile. However, he left unresolved the issue of his dual role as head of the army and leader of the country.
After three days of official denials from the government and members of Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's party (PPP), a government minister last Sunday confirmed that Pakistan's president had met Ms Bhutto in Abu Dhabi last Friday in an effort to strike a power-sharing deal.
Sher Afghan Niaz, the minister for parliamentary affairs, said: "A meeting has taken place, the two [Musharraf and Bhutto] are having a direct dialogue."
The two are thought to be working on a deal that would boost the president's political strength while allowing the opposition leader Ms Bhutto to come to Pakistan and become prime minister for the third time.
But General Musharraf, who is going through the weakest period of his eight-year rule, is facing growing opposition to his role as president and army chief as he seeks another five-year term. On Friday, 13 people were killed and 40 injured in a bombing near Islamabad's Red Mosque after authorities tried to reopen it for the first time since military troops stormed it this month.
Speaking on the Pakistani television station KTN at the weekend, Ms Bhutto said a key sticking point in talks was Gen Musharraf's reluctance to resign from the army to meet demands by opposition groups for a return to civilian rule. "We do not accept President Musharraf in uniform," Ms Bhutto said. "Our stand is that, and I stick to my stand."
In the past, the president has denounced both Ms Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister arrested in the bloodless coup in 1999 that brought Gen Musharraf to power.
Shaukat Qadir, an analyst on political and security affairs, said the talks represented "a complete turnround for General Musharraf". A senior leader of the PPP in London, where Ms Bhutto has held party meetings for the past week, said: "They have even agreed on the name of an interim prime minister to run the government for 90 days during which the election campaign and elections will take place." Hamid Nasir Chattha, a veteran Pakistani politician known to both Ms Bhutto and Gen Musharraf, was said to be the consensus candidate.
..............................
Under syndication
arrangement with FE