LAHORE, Sept 17: Pakistan People’s Party (Shaheed Bhutto) Chairperson Ghinwa Bhutto on Monday spelled out salient features of what she said the ‘revolutionary’ programme of the party to ensure an egalitarian society, empower the people and establish a democracy that suited the country’s genus.

Speaking at a news conference, Ms Bhutto declared that her party believed in a socialist economy and wanted to reinterpret the foundation slogan of “all powers to the people” by bringing about a fundamental change in existing laws, the police and judicial system, establishing a new economic order.

She said the party wanted to introduce a system of governance at union council, town and ‘mohalla’ level with the help of committees of elected representatives and restrict the armed forces to guarding the frontiers of Pakistan.

Flanked by Secretary General Dr Mubashir Hasan, the party chief said the objective of the PPP (SB) was to end the status-quo and make the people masters of their own destiny.

She said power now rested with the civil and military bureaucracy which had wound up some one dozen governments so far. That meant that the ruling classes had become weak and now the people should be given the real power.

Ms Bhutto said her party planned to place police under the authority of the people who should also be given powers to dictate the judicial dispensation. She said the party envisaged an effective local government system, giving the maximum autonomy to provinces.

“This is the way to make Pakistan a vibrant and functioning federation for which we have to seek guidance from the 1973 Constitution”, she added.

According to her, all political parties were involved in power politics and had failed to address to the real issues which had weakened the state.

She said Benazir Bhutto had deviated from the ideology and the programme of the Late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and was, like any other party, fighting for power. “We can not hand the country over to such political parties and politicians who were interested only in their own bread and butter having no concern over the real problems of the people”.

Similarly, she said, her party would not like to support the parties and their leaders who had an agenda of Washington’s appeasement to grab power. “Benazir may be the first contestant but others (politicians) are no different in this ugly game”, she added.

Ghinwa said Benazir Bhutto was a right-wing leader while her father believed in leftist ideology. Benazir, she said, was interested only in getting corruption cases against her withdrawn and for that she was almost begging the Bush administration for help.

She said she intended to contest for a National Assembly seat from Larkana. “I am not targeting only at opposing Benazir; I want to challenge the whole system and all in the lot”, she added.

Later, she and Dr Mubashir Hasan jointly cut a cake to celebrate the birthday of her late husband Mir Murtaza Bhutto who was gunned down in Karachi on Sept 20, 1996.