LAHORE, Oct 18: The people who had gathered to welcome Benazir Bhutto in Karachi were hardly enough to elect one member for National Assembly, claimed Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi.

Speaking at a hurriedly-called press conference at his residence here on Thursday, he claimed that all those who were with the PPP went to Karachi and that was the total popular support the party now enjoyed.

“The masses did not come out to welcome the PPP chairperson because they know that the Bhutto family was the inventor of civilian dictatorship in the country. The late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the first civilian martial law administrator of the country who dismissed the Balochistan and the NWFP governments within six months of being elected.

“Now his daughter has returned with the old slogan of roti, kapra aur makan which had lost its appeal even in the late Bhutto’s regime”.

He said: “Benazir Bhutto has worsened her case by refusing to think beyond her personal interest. Her contradictory stances on many national issues have exposed her as, on the one hand, she says the PPP would not accept a president in uniform and, on the other, was seeking apology from the same uniformed president.

“She claims herself to be a patriot and at the same time talks about allowing foreign forces to operate on the Pakistani soil and handing over Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan to the International Atomic Energy Agency”, said the chief minister, who added that she would no longer be able to hoodwink people.

“Everyone knows that she was never exiled, rather she ran away from corruption cases. She plundered the national exchequer and fled; it is absconding and not exile”.

During her two stints, he said, Benazir did not initiate any development project and ignored all the sectors.

When asked whether President Gen Pervez Musharraf had been caught in the crossfire between the ruling PML and the PPP, he denied it to be the case. “The PML has elected the president and would continue supporting him. The PPP sought forgiveness in the name of political reconciliation, and the president obliged. It was nothing more than political magnanimity on the part of the president”.

He said the court would decide the fate of the National Reconciliation Ordinance “and for a political fate, one must not forget the statement of Chaudhry Shujaat Husain — raat gai, baat gai”.

The PML would compete with the PPP on every seat, be it national or provincial, said Pervaiz Elahi, who avoided directly commenting on the role of President Pervez Musharraf during negotiations with Benazir Bhutto and her subsequent arrival in Karachi.

To a question whether the Punjab government will allow Benazir Bhutto a free hand when and if she pay a visit, the chief minister said he would take a decision after Benazir’s plan.

The CM also took the occasion to deny any contact with Shahbaz Sharif during current stay of Chaudhry Shujaat Husain in London. “There is neither any contact nor the PML feels any need to do so,” he insisted.