LARKANA, Sept 28: The chairman of the Sindh National Front (SNF), Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, remarked on Friday that the Supreme Court’s verdict on Gen Musharraf’s dual offices would further deepen the crisis and be of little help in steering the country out of the present phase of uncertainty.

He told journalists after an Iftar-dinner in Mirpur Bhutto that people had had enough of Gen Musharraf. Decency required he should not have filed papers for the slot as it would certainly lead to a new and even bigger crisis.

He said the loser would surely go for a review petition and the game would perpetuate till the ouster of Musharraf.

Mr Bhutto turned his criticism on the press saying it had gone wild trumpeting the return of Ms Bezair. It had done the same when Asif Zardari was released but he let them down by running away, he said.

Ms Benazir claimed that she would return for the sake of people and was not deterred by any danger to her, he said pointing out if it was so then why did she flee in the first place and remain a silent spectator to the agonies of people for ten years.

If she was not afraid then why had she asked for general amnesty not only for herself and her spouse in murder and corruption cases, but also for the large number of her party men who were either absconding or had emerged from hiding after secret deals with the NAB, he claimed.

They must stand up in court and prove their innocence or carry the stigma of corruption forever, he said and added although it might be too late but the Surrey Palace and money laundering case already stood proved in Switzerland courts.

He said if Benazir was so much concerned about people and democracy she should have asked the government to put an end to lawlessness, corruption, unemployment, high prices, poverty and provision of basic amenities to people.

She should also have demanded provincial autonomy and sovereignty as promised in the Pakistan Resolution rather than getting guarantees for her personal benefits, he said.

What was, however, most alarming was her relentless effort to outpace Gen Musharraf in winning the patronage of Americans whom she had accused of her father’s murder at the time of his execution, he remarked.

He said “We have seen that in seeking American favour Gen Musharraf has caused serious harm to the country, including pitting soldiers against our own citizens, resulting in thousands of deaths on both sides,” he said.

Mr Bhutto said that in order to win the race, Benazir would, no doubt, be ready to go much farther in the same direction with worse consequences, he feared.

He said that people must not be swayed by publicity, hype and celebrations of ‘Jiyalas’ who were excited at the prospect of once again enjoying the benefits of power.

People had twice put the PPP in power and on both occasions it had to go over charges of corruption and incompetence, he said and added the country could not afford a third PPP tenure, though as brief as it one could expect.