M A I N   N E W S

Benazir may head interim govt
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto currently holding intense negotiations with Pervez Musharraf to lead a caretaker government of national consensus, according to reliable sources.

Bhutto’s sudden dash to Karachi from Dubai soon after Musharraf promulgated emergency in the country on last evening, has mystified political circles here. On arrival she condemned it as a mini-martial law and asked Musharraf to reverse his order.

Knowledgeable sources here said both the Presidency and the PPP of Bhutto are engaged in intensive discussions on the terms of formation of the caretaker government. She insists it should be a government of national consensus involving other mainstream parties. She also wants its tenure to be flexible, depending on restoration of normalcy in the country that may take about two years, it is learned.

The talks are being held with the blessing of the Bush administration. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reportedly called Bhutto in Dubai soon after Musharraf declared emergency and reportedly advised her to return to Pakistan immediately.

Bhutto is conscious of the fact that her political position would be grievously compromised if she agrees to join Musharraf at this stage while he is wielding extra-constitutional powers. The emergency order has evoked strong reaction within and abroad. Lawyers and political parties plan protest demonstrations today from despite government warnings of deterrent actions.

Musharraf is also facing an embarrassing situation due to tough position taken by a large number of independent judges by declining to take fresh oath. The situation is very fluid in Karachi where more than 20 out of 28 judges have not taken oath and insist they cannot be removed because of annulment of the emergency by seven-member bench of the Supreme Court led by the Chief Justice within moments of announcement of the emergency on Saturday evening. With bar and the bench bracing to defy the government on Monday, a very dicey situation has been created.

Bhutto has decided to watch the evolving situation in the country before taking a final plunge in the proposed arrangements. She has expressed her intention to consult other political parties. In Dubai on November 2 she met with Senator Ishaq Dar, a top PML-N leader and close confident of exiled premier Nawaz Sharif, who is flying to Jeddah this week to meet Sharif. This was her first contact with an erstwhile ally since their rupture in July last.

Sources said the former premier was taken to departure lounge after landing at Karachi airport last night where a special plane was waiting to fly her to Islamabad. This was the time when Musharraf was bracing for his address to the nation that had to be delayed till about midnight because of hiccups in the talks between the two sides. In his address he was vague about future structure.

The PPP chairperson had flown to Dubai on November 1 while speculations of imminent promulgation of emergency were rife. PPP sources have confirmed that both sides had held preliminary talks on the contours of the caretaker government before she convened a meeting of the central committee of the party on October 31 evening after she was to leave for Dubai.

In fact she had to interrupt the meeting of PPP central committee to seek information from the Presidency that emergency was not being imposed that night. In the process the departure had to be delayed till next morning.

Decision on Assembly tenure soon: Aziz
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

The dissolution of the National Assembly is being kept on hold while President Gen. Musharraf may not stick to the promised schedule of fresh oath as president and relinquishing of the army post by November 15, it emerged from answers to questions by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in his press conference here Sunday.

Aziz repeated arguments given by Musharraf in his speech for imposing the emergency but could not say when it would be lifted. He said the objectives set in the emergency order have to be achieved that include curbing terrorism, restoring harmony among the judiciary, legislature and executive and normalising the law and order situation.

Aziz did not directly respond when asked whether Musharraf will take fresh oath as President and shed his uniform as promised. “The matter is subjudice” he remarked apparently referring to the petitions that were pending before an 11-member Bench of the Supreme Court challenging Musharraf’s candidature and eligibility. The Bench had allowed polling in the presidential election on October 6 but stopped the notification of the result.

The Bench now stands disbanded after a drastic purge in the Supreme Court which now consists of only five instead of 17 members who have agreed to take fresh oath under the new Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO). The President will take time to fill the vacant posts by promoting judges from four provincial high courts. Judges of the Supreme Court cannot be directly recruited though Musharraf can amend this constitutional limitation because of the unlimited powers he has assumed due to the emergency.

On the extension of the National Assembly’s tenure, due to expire on November 15, Aziz said the Constitution allows it for one year during emergency but added that no decision had yet been taken on this subject. “We hope to deliberate on this issue in coming days,” he added.

There is no provision for extension of term of provincial Assemblies but Musharraf can now introduce an amendment. Three provincial Assemblies of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, exist at the moment while NWFP Assembly was dissolved last month.

State minister for information and broadcasting, Tariq Azeem who was sitting with the PM in the news conference earlier told newsmen that matters like the elections, dissolution of Assemblies and other related issues will remain in abeyance with the suspension of the Constitution.

The schedule for parliamentary elections due in January may be “adjusted” in line with the emergency, he said adding that everything was in a flux at the moment. Asked about the legality of Musharraf assuming the power of amending the constitution, Aziz said it has been done under the emergency order promulgated him as army chief.

Another questioner pointed out that as President and army chief, Musharraf enjoyed vast powers and yet could not contain extremism and terrorism. Aziz was asked what more authority Musharraf needed to overcome the problems.