HYDERABAD, Jan 8: The chairperson of Pakistan People’s Party Ms. Benazir Bhutto has rejected outright any offer of Gen Pervez Musharraf and that is one of the reasons she is still living in exile, claims the deputy opposition leader in National Assembly Syed Naveed Qamar on Sunday.

Speaking to a gathering of party workers in Tando Mohammad Khan on Sunday Mr. Qamar dismissed the reports as part of disinformation being spread by ministers that PPP had struck up a deal with the government. Some people in the government were saying the party had entered a deal with them while at the same time some others of their colleagues were busy contradicting them, he said, adding that it was just an exercise in keeping people confused.

PPP had only one deal and it was with people not with the government and the party would never dent the trust of its friends and supporters by accepting Musharraf as president while he was in uniform, he said.

Mr. Qamar said that the current year would see the return of Ms. Bhutto and her election as prime minister for the third time.

Deputy opposition leader in Sindh Assembly Makhdoom Jamiluzzaman said that the party had never accepted Musharraf as president therefore the question of striking up a deal with him simply did not arise. The party could not jeopardise its reputation by entering into a deal with the government, which had given people nothing save poverty, hunger, unemployment and price hike, he said.

He said that Musharraf government was leading the country towards disintegration on the issue of Kalabagh Dam by flouting the decisions of three provincial assemblies and people. The government should take a decision once and for all whether dams were more important than the country, he said.