By IANS
New York : Pakistan’s exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has welcomed a Supreme Court ruling permitting Nawaz Sharif to return home “even though he had left the country after an agreement with the government”.
Her qualified praise for the court order indicates a return to traditional political rivalry with Sharif, with whom she had signed the “Charter of Democracy” in May last year, political analysts said.
“Although we note that he (Nawaz Sharif) left the country after an agreement with the government, we welcome the Supreme Court decision,” Bhutto said in a statement issued in New York.
“We want that all the citizens of Pakistan should be given the same right,” said Bhutto, who is known to be in talks with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on a power-sharing deal.
Bhutto, who faces corruption charges in Pakistan, lives in self-exile, dividing her time between Dubai and London.
Meanwhile, in an interview apparently recorded before the court verdict on Sharif, Bhutto said she wanted a “facilitated transfer of democracy”.
She was also willing to have a “working relationship” with Musharraf, who could remain president – with control over the army – if he shed his uniform.
Interviewed by former CBS news anchor Dan Rather, Bhutto indicated that the two “confidence building measures” she expected of Musharraf were lifting of the ban on a third term for prime ministers and “indemnity for holders of public office prior to 2001”.
Pakistan’s parliament, however, was prorogued earlier this week without considering such legislation.
Asked by Rather if she and her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) were open to sharing power with Musharraf and leave him “in charge of the military,” Bhutto replied: “The president of our country, under the constitution, is the commander-in-chief. So even if Musharraf leaves the army chief’s post and is legally elected president, he would still continue to be in charge of the military. So would any president, even if he is a civilian.”
According to Bhutto, “Pakistanis feel that the military is not just defending the country’s frontiers but that it is becoming a political party. And, therefore, for the internal cohesion of Pakistan, it is very important for us to demarcate the role of our armed forces in our society.”
This will depend on him “reaching a package of reforms with politicians but the time for that is running out”, Bhutto maintained, adding her deadline for that is the end of August.