PESHAWAR, Jan 15: The Pakistan People’s Party has said that the party’s chairperson Benazir Bhutto has not yet decided if she will contest the forthcoming Senate elections but she is qualified to do so. Senator Farhatullah Babar, spokesman for Benazir Bhutto, said that at a meeting in London some PPP leaders had proposed that the party chairperson should contest the coming Senate elections.

Benazir Bhutto had not rejected the suggestion, but said she would first consult her lawyers and then assess the move’s political impact, he added.

The government, he said, had framed a law in April 1999 and banned Ms Bhutto from contesting election for any post, but the PPP had challenged what he termed the “Bhutto-specific law in the court”, he added.

He said: “PPP does not accept it. It is based on malafide intention to prevent Ms Bhutto from contesting elections.

The military rulers have framed it to stop the genuine political leaders from playing an effective role in the country.”

He said Ms Bhutto had left the country on April 15, 1999 and rulers enforced it, with a retrospective effective, from the same date.

Mr Babar said Ms Bhutto could contest on the general, reserved seats for women or on a technocrat’s seat.

“We have ample voters in Sindh Assembly and Ms Bhutto will easily bag a seat, but she has yet not decided either to contest or not to contest,” he added.

He said it was untimely to make any comment because the Election Commission had not yet announced the election schedule.

After the election schedule, the party would form a parliamentary committee, which would invite applications and allot tickets.

Then the PPP chairperson would give the final approval of candidates, he added.