Only a few loose ends remain to be tied up: Benazir deal
By M. Ziauddin
LONDON, Sept 5: The proposed power-sharing deal between President Pervez Musharraf and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto has been done but for a few loose ends to be tied up, sources close to official circles as well as those who claim to be knowledgeable about PPP affairs confirmed here on Wednesday.
Gen Musharraf’s emissaries are said to have returned to Islamabad from Dubai with an agreed draft of a compromise package and briefed the president who, it is believed, will convey his reponse one way or the other in a day or two.
Meanwhile, Ms Bhutto is said to have convened a meeting of advisers within the party as well as some local and foreign consultants on Friday to discuss the final package which she expects to receive from Gen Musharraf by that time.
When asked if the president had agreed to dilute his powers to dissolve the assemblies by seeking prior approval of the Supreme Court or if the Chaudhry cousins and the MQM had agreed to vote for lifting the two-time prime minister bar, the sources said: “When you make a deal compromises have to be made.”
They gave the same answer when questioned about Ms Bhutto’s demand that local body governments be suspended two months before the general elections.
And on the most important question of when Gen Musharraf would doff his uniform, they said once the package of compromises was signed by the two parties, the president would announce the date of his retirement from the army.
The sources refused to rule out the possibility of Gen Musharraf contesting his election without the uniform.
And they also refused to rule out the possibility of Ms Bhutto postponing her return to Pakistan until after the general elections.
It appears as if the president is prepared to give up a large number of his so far strongly held political positions to see that a ‘free, fair and transparent’ general election is held without the two — Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif — disrupting them with their presence in the country.
However, observers said that it would not be possible to keep Ms Bhutto out if Nawaz Sharif as promised returned home on Sept 10.
