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| April 10, 2007 | Tuesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1428 |
Talks held with govt, but no deal reached, says Benazir
DUBAI, April 9: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has confirmed that she has been in contact with President Pervez Musharraf, but denied that her Pakistan People’s Party had entered into any deal with the government.
In an interview with a private TV channel, she said that talks between the PPP and the government had been going on since 2002; various issues had been discussed, but no deal had been reached.
She said that contacts had been taking place at political levels at all times, with people from the two sides meeting regularly, adding that it was a normal and standard practice in politics. But to misconstrue all this as a deal would be entirely wrong, she said.
She stressed that a deal would mean signing an accord. Even the PPP having unanimity of views with the government on the women’s protection bill, she said, was misconstrued as a step towards deal.
She also said that her party’s validation of a military government would be ‘illogical’.
In reply to a question, she reiterated her party’s commitment to democracy and opposition to dictatorship, and categorically stated that the PPP would never accept a uniformed president since that would be against its manifesto.
Ms Bhutto denied that she had ever received any offer of premiership from the present government, saying that all such reports were part of a disinformation campaign. She said that she had criticised the government for perpetuating poverty, unemployment and lawlessness in the country.
She termed the situation in Balochistan and tribal areas as dangerous and detrimental to national integrity, and said that restoration of democracy was the only viable solution. She also expressed anguish over the growing influence of various extremist forces in the country.
The former premier categorically ruled out any possibility of her party entering into an electoral alliance with the MMA, because of their conflicting ideologies. She said that Maulana Fazlur Rehman had never been a member of her cabinet, adding that he was merely head of a committee.
She denied any problems in her domestic life and said she regretted that a woman journalist was responsible for this scandalous report, which was against the principles of responsible journalism.
She accused the ex-ISI chief, Gen Hameed Gul, of having played a pivotal role in the dissolution of her government in 1996 and said that the then army chief Gen Jehangir Karamat had disclosed this to her.—Agencies
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