Benazirbhutto.org - Elections - Speeches and Interviews

WASHINGTON, Nov 18: PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto appears to have softened her attitude towards President Pervez Musharraf following a visit by a top US envoy to Islamabad, which aimed at promoting reconciliation between her and the general.

Although still critical of Gen Musharraf, Ms Bhutto said in an interview to CNN on Sunday that she was waiting for him to respond to the message Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte brought from Washington.

Reports in the US media suggest that Mr Negroponte asked both Ms Bhutto and Gen Musharraf to shelve their differences and revive a power-sharing deal.

The US envoy spoke with Ms Bhutto before a 90-minute meeting with Gen Musharraf, which a US official described to The Washington Post as “short of tough love, but still tough”.“It was made clear that if things don’t change, aid money could be cut, and it was very serious and on the table,” the official said.The New York Times noted that Mr Negroponte met Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani twice. “The time and attention paid to General Kayani, a pro-Western moderate, seemed to signal American support for him,” the newspaper said.

In her interview to CNN Late Edition, Ms Bhutto twice avoided criticising Gen Musharraf when asked to do so, telling the interviewer instead: “I know where you want to take me.”

The interviewer also played the tape of an earlier interview with Gen Musharraf who accused Ms Bhutto of using his conciliatory gesture to come to Pakistan and later taking a confrontational stance against him. The interviewer then asked her if she still wanted to send him a reconciliatory message.

Ms Bhutto, who usually uses such opportunities to hit back with full force, politely said: “If Gen Musharraf is not responding to Washington’s call to retire (as chief of army staff), and Washington is giving him $10 billion, I wonder he would be ever ready to respond to my call for a political reconciliation.

She said she had made a reconciliatory arrangement with Gen Musharraf to “avoid the mess we are in today.” But when Gen Musharraf suspended the Constitution she came to the conclusion that he was not interested in giving the opposition a fair chance.

When the interviewer asked if she was going to reconsider her decision now, Ms Bhutto said: “I know where you are taking me. Let’s first see if he responds to Washington.”

She said for holding fair and free elections, Gen Musharraf needed to reconstruct the Election Commission, suspend existing nazims who could manipulate the elections and take other steps.

Gen Musharraf, she said, also needed to send a powerful message to the militants that they could not get away with attacking politicians by calling in international investigators to probe the attack on her procession.

Ms Bhutto said the government’s decision to release her and other political prisoners was timed to coincide with Mr Negroponte’s visit to send a positive signal to Washington. Several thousand political workers, however, were still behind bars, she added.

Ms Bhutto said the US envoy did the right thing in publicly asking the Musharraf government to lift the curbs on the media, release political workers and retire as COAS.

The nation, she said, was waiting for Gen Musharraf to give a fixed date to retire as army chief but he had not done so.

Ms Bhutto also responded to former US Secretary of Madeleine Albright’s recent statement that as bad as Gen Musharraf might be, he had made a major contribution to fighting terrorism.

Ms Bhutto said what the general had done was not enough as terrorists were spreading their tentacles from the tribal to settled areas of the NWFP and were also knocking at the doors of Islamabad.

She said that in Swat the government was conducting carpet-bombing which was also killing innocent civilians.

Ms Bhutto said she would like to see the local population co-opted against the terrorists.

Invited to comment on an article her niece Fatima Bhutto wrote in the Los Angeles Times, attacking her as a leader who had no principles and was willing to compromise her principles to gain power, Ms Bhutto said: “I know my niece is angry with me” but what she had done aimed at ensuring that fair and free elections were held in Pakistan.

LAHORE, Pakistan -- All through the years of the Soviet empire, its Politburo held "elections." Of course, calling something an election and actually having it be an election are different things.

I am under house arrest in Lahore, barricaded in by Pakistani police with bayonets. Despite Gen. Pervez Musharraf's announcement of a date for parliamentary elections, I doubt that we are in for a change. I cautioned the general earlier this year that his election as president by the present parliament was illegal. He insisted otherwise.

We agreed to disagree and decided that we both would accept a ruling by the Supreme Court regarding eligibility. Yet when the court was on the brink of deciding, Musharraf imposed martial law by suspending the constitution, and he removed several of the Supreme Court justices.

We are witnessing a farce in Pakistan: While an election schedule has been announced, the problem lies in what has not been announced. No indication has been given as to whether Musharraf will keep his previous commitment to retire as army chief on Thursday.

No date has been given for the lifting of emergency rule; the reconstitution of the election commission; the implementation of fair election practices; the removal of biased officials; or the suspension of the mayors, who control the guns and the funds -- that is, police and government resources -- to adversely influence elections.

Moreover, judges, lawyers, human rights activists and students across the country are in prison or under house arrest. The independent media have been shut down, television stations stopped from broadcasting news.

Several foreign journalists have been expelled. Thousands of political activists, a majority from my Pakistan People's Party, have been arrested.

Police have erected barricades and deployed armored personnel carriers and trucks filled with sand to cut off access to my house and to prevent people from going from one city to another. Musharraf knows how to crack down against pro-democracy forces. He is, however, unwilling or unable to track down and arrest Osama bin Laden or contain the extremists. This is the reality of Pakistan in November 2007.

The only terror that Musharraf's regime seems able to confront is the terror of his own illegitimacy. This is the second time Musharraf has imposed martial law and the second time he has sacked judges since taking over the country in a coup in 1999. It was then that he first promised "to bring true democracy."

The election commission has promulgated election rolls judged illegitimate by Pakistan's Supreme Court and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. Some polling sites have been kept secret. Musharraf's political opposition is banned from campaigning or organizing and has been denied access to state-controlled media. We

cannot meet, we cannot rally, and when we try to bring the people to the streets they are gassed, beaten and shot at with rubber bullets. This is not only a military dictatorship, it is a classic police state.

On top of a litany of assaults on the rule of law, the general has unilaterally amended the Army Act of 1952 to grant the army the power to try civilians in military courts. Courts-martial will operate by military rules in secret, and defendants are not allowed legal representation.

No attempt has been made to differentiate between average citizens and terrorism suspects associated with militant groups. Many believe that these laws were passed to intimidate pro-democracy forces, not to try terrorism suspects. This is the "democracy" that Musharraf envisages.

While living in America when I attended Harvard in the early 1970s, I saw for myself the awesome, almost miraculous, power of a people to change policy through democratic means. Today I am seeing the power of the people coalescing once again. Journalists, judges, and political and civil activists have joined together against Musharraf's second

declaration of martial law. They see him as the obstacle to the democratization of Pakistan.

This is why I have called upon Gen. Musharraf to resign as president and chief of army staff, and to pave the way for the composition of an interim government of national consensus that will oversee the transfer of power to duly elected representatives of the people.

The people of the Soviet Union knew that "elections" for the Politburo were fraudulent. The people of Pakistan know that elections under martial law are a similar sham.

Benazir Bhutto, head of the Pakistan People's Party, was twice elected prime minister of Pakistan. She is under house arrest in Lahore.

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The Present Unrest in Pakistan
By Benazir Bhutto & David Miliband

James Naughtie: And we're going straight to Pakistan, to Lahore, where we can talk to Benazir Bhutto who is surrounded by thousands of troops and being prevented from having her march and who is on the line. Good morning.

Benazir Bhutto: Good morning.

JN: What is the situation where you now find yourself?
BB: Well we've got about four thousand Policemen all around the house including in the neighbours, armoured personnel carriers and massive trucks filled with red sand, barbed wire, and I'm just wondering when we have this huge deployment where Police of this kind can't be used to hunt down Osama bin Laden.
The whole problem in Pakistan has been the inability of General Musharraf's regime to focus on the real threat which is coming from the extremists in the tribal areas of Pakistan and instead they've concentrated on marginalizing the moderate forces which has just fuelled extremism further.

JN: For some time you've been engaged in a, a kind of dialogue with General Musharraf. What is your view now of his hold on power?
BB: Well I think General Musharraf should be, if he's lost the confidence of the people of Pakistan, he's at war with the judiciary of the country having arrested the judges, he's taken on the Bar Association, imposed censorship and basically alienated the press and the nation. He's attacked NGO groups who are also protesting, he is unable to give the nation a fair election, he's announced an election date no doubt, but one should look at all the things he didn't announce. He was given good advice by the Commonwealth, by the Foreign Secretary, by President Bush's Administration but he doesn't listen to the advice he is given, he is bent on maintaining and sustaining a dictatorship and dictatorship and Pakistan simply don't go together. It's dictatorship that has led to the political protest, it's dictatorship which has led to the rise of extremism.

JN: Can we take it from what you've just said that there are no circumstances under which you would serve in power with General Musharraf now?
BB: That's right there are no circumstances in which I could see myself serving with General Musharraf. I tried for more than a year, I did my best, I worked out a road map for democracy but he went back on that and imposed martial law. After that there were several people, foreign countries and people inside, that publicly called, and Foreign Secretary Miliband, that rightly called for General Musharraf to give a date when he would hold general election, give a date for when he would retire as Chief of Army Staff, release the judges and the political prisoners and lift the gags on the media.
Now these were given by a friend of Pakistan and would have helped diffuse the internal situation. But ...

JN: Well ...
BB: ... unfortunately General Musharraf did too little and if he does anything now it will be too late. He's alienated the people with his brute force by breaking in to homes, his police have broken in to homes, so I really think it's impossible for the People's Party and myself to work with him any more.

JN: We'll be talking to the Foreign Secretary in a moment, in fact I think he's listening to what you're saying now. Given what you've just said what would you like him to do and the British Government to do?
BB: Well it might not be very diplomatic but I would like to say to the Foreign Secretary to ask General Musharraf to step down. And certainly I feel that as long as General Musharraf is there the turmoil in Pakistan will continue and Britain really needs to look at the situation whether a nuclear armed nation, a country like Pakistan, can afford ...

JN: ... we'll ask ...
BB: ... in, in the region and it, we see our tribal areas have become safe havens for extremists ...

JN: ... what will you ...
BB: ... (indistinct) NATO troops and attack people in Pakistan.

JN: Finally, and briefly if you can Miss Bhutto, what will you do now?
BB: Well I intend to continue marching for democracy I intend to continue marching for an end to martial law.

JN: Benazir Bhutto in Lahore thank you.
Sarah Montague: Well with the time at ten minutes to eight we are now joined by the Foreign Secretary David Miliband who was listening to Benazir Bhutto there. Good morning.

David Miliband: Good morning.

SM: Will you ask President Musharraf to step down?
DB: Well we've been absolutely clear already that it's vital that President Musharraf fulfils his commitment to step down as head of the Army, that's one of the four pieces of the international jigsaw that have been absolutely a point of consensus and obviously I've talked about those points with Benazir Bhutto on two occasions on the phone and also in person. Stepping down as head of the Army is, is key, free and fair elections vital, media restrictions lifted and obviously the political prisoners, many of them from Benazir Bhutto's party, also have to be released.

SM: But as you will have heard her saying there whatever he does now it is too late so will you ask him to step down?
DB: Well we, we've made clear that he does have to step down as head of the Army and that democratic forces have to have their sway in ...

SM: Mr Miliband forgive me for pushing you but did, she's specifically saying that you need to ask him to step down as President.
DB: Right well that's the first time I've heard her say that, I, I, I came in halfway through the interview ...

SM: I think it is the first time that she's said it or at least ...
DB: ... yeah ...

SM: ... what is your response to it?
DB: ... well I think that the, as I said in the House of Commons last week, the situation in Pakistan is moving very fast. Even in the last twenty four hours we've had the meeting of the Commonwealth Ministers' Action Group which is saying that unless the situation improves then Pakistan will be suspended from the Commonwealth. I will look at, obviously, at what Benazir Bhutto has said but the, the point of consensus up to now with all of our international partners and I have to say also with opposition figures within Pakistan has been about the centrality of free and fair elections because in the end it has to be the people of Pakistan who decide who their Government should be, not me.

SM: Her argument though, as I say, is that it's too late for him to do something now, it's too late, there's nothing he can do, he needs to step down. From what you're saying, it's not too late.
DB: Well I think that's a matter in the end for the constitution of Pakistan. There, there is a constitution in Pakistan, it needs to be respected, it's vital that at the heart are free and fair elections ...

SM: But it's not, forgive me, it's not being respected at the moment is it?
DB: ... well it's not being respected, it's been suspended as, there, there's an emergency rule there, the constitution has been suspended. Elections have been confirmed for, for, before the 9th of January but as I said in the House of Commons in the Foreign Affairs Debate yesterday we must make sure that the elections are free and fair in that the opposition have a proper chance to put their case, they'll, the electoral rolls are in a proper state, and obviously also that political prisoners are released. So it's got to be the reality and substance of proper elections, not just the words of them.

SM: So the British Government position is the same as the Commonwealth, the, the, made yesterday, that within ten days the military rule must be lifted?
DB: Abs, absolutely the, the Commonwealth position was one that UK played an important part in creating. The importance of ten days, just for the benefit of listeners, is that the Commonwealth Heads of Government will be meeting next week, at the end of next week, in Kampala, and the 22nd of November relates to, to that meeting and that's, that's why the ten days has become important.

SM: You were invited on to speak before, of course, the development in Pakistan on the comments made by the Prime Minister last night who talked about foreign policy saying his foreign policy, he described it as hard headed internationalism. Now you, of course, as Foreign Secretary are the man implementing that policy, what does it mean to you?
DB: I think that the most important thing that it means is that we will use all the tools at our disposal, the so called soft power of diplomacy and trade but also the hard power of our military forces who are in action around the world, to ensure that we can advance British values and interests, and the more we can do that in international institutions obviously the more effective we are at utilising the relationships that we, and partnerships that we have around the world.

And I think one of the lessons of the, of the period since the end of the Cold War, the lessons of the period since September 2001, is that, you know, in a way Pakistan makes this point, if you pose the choice as either you favour democracy or you favour security, in other words either you favour aid programmes or you favour military action, you don't get it right. You have to use both and whether it be in Darfur, which the Prime Minister talked about yesterday, we've got to make sure that we get our programmes for economic governance, for political reform and for security right. I think that's the heart of the message the Prime Minister was putting across.

Bhutto says she has been placed under house arrest for seven days Protesters open fire on two police stations in Karachi, AP reports Bhutto says she would prefer to live in a Pakistani jail than forced to leave Bhutto says talks on power-sharing deal with Musharraf have been shelved LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Tuesday called on President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to immediately step down in the wake of a mass crackdown on the opposition this week.

Protesters in Karachi meanwhile have reportedly opened fire on two police stations in protest as Bhutto remained under house arrest in Lahore, according to The Associated Press.

"It's time for him to leave," said Bhutto in a phone interview with CNN Tuesday morning, as Pakistani riot police arrested her supporters.

It marked the first time she has called on Musharraf, who is both president and army chief, to completely give up power. In the past, she has called on him to renounce his military role while serving as president.

Bhutto said while she has tried to work with Musharraf on a "roadmap to democracy," the arrests of thousands of people on Monday convinced her he must go.

Musharraf declared a state of emergency and suspended democracy earlier this month.

"There's a total trust deficit," Bhutto said, confirming that she has been placed under house arrest for seven days. Watch what else emerged from her interview »

In her CNN interview, she also addressed media reports that Musharraf may have her deported.

"I'm told by Sky television that the regime is getting a C-130 military aircraft ready to take me away, presumably to my home in Karachi. But I have not been given any indication of whether I will be taken out of this house arrest or whether I will be taken to my own house or to any unknown destination," Bhutto said.

"So I'm totally in the dark at this moment on what this regime is planning to do with me."

Asked if she would leave the country if the government tries to force her out, Bhutto replied, "No, I won't go. Pakistan is my country.

"I belong in Pakistan and I cannot be banished. I would prefer to live in a Pakistani jail than to be forced to leave."

While authorities barricaded the streets surrounding the house where she is staying, only a "handful" of officials and members of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) had tried to breach the cordon, CNN's Karl Penhaul reported.

"These party officials show up to the barricades. They symbolically chant two or three slogans and then almost voluntarily they seem to be stepping into police vans to be taken off for some kind of arrest," Penhaul reported.

"But certainly, there ... is no massing of party interests here and certainly, right now, there are many more police and, indeed, many more TV cameras than there are supporters of Benazir Bhutto."

Opposition groups had hoped to stage a five-day Lahore-to-Islamabad march and were counting on a groundswell of popular support to carry out the protest, but there appeared to be none.

Police and opposition officials reported the scattered burning of tires in Lahore to protest the barricades.

Meanwhile, several hundred police officers surrounded the house where Bhutto was staying and declared it a "subjail," sending jail staff to monitor the situation.

On Friday Bhutto was briefly confined to her villa compound in Islamabad in an effort to halt a massive opposition protest in Rawalpindi against Musharraf's November 3 declaration of emergency rule.

He has called it necessary to crack down on Islamic terrorists massing strength in volatile tribal regions along the Afghan border.

The opposition says the emergency order amounts to martial law and amounts to a power grab by Musharraf.

Pakistani authorities have shut down media outlets and jailed opposition leaders and lawyers who protested Musharraf's sacking of a number of Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice Ikhtar Muhammed Chaudhry.
Opposition leaders contend Musharraf's emergency order was issued to avoid what they said was the top court's impending decision that would have nullified his recent election victory on grounds he was ineligible.

Musharraf has said the newly installed court judges "accept the election," and he repeated his vow to step down as military chief as soon as the court approves his third term.

On Sunday Musharraf announced that a parliamentary vote would take place before January 9, adding that it could take place with the state of emergency still in effect. In fact, he said, the emergency order "will ensure absolutely fair and transparent elections."

In the wake of the emergency order and crackdown, Bhutto has said talks on a power-sharing deal with Musharraf have been shelved. Fellow opposition leaders have criticized her for considering such a deal.

The United States and Britain, among other nations, have cautiously urged Musharraf to rescind the emergency decree.

Senior State Department officials told CNN Tuesday that Deputy Security of State John Negroponte was expected in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad for talks later this week with Musharraf.

Negroponte is expected to pressure Musharraf to end the emergency rule, shed his role as the country's military leader and stick to his calls for elections in early January, the officials said.

Embassy spokeswoman Liz Colton said Negroponte had long been scheduled to visit Pakistan as part of a strategic dialogue between the two countries.

Those talks were to include the war on terror, but Colton said that given the state of emergency imposed by Pakistan, that would be the focus of the talks.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth -- a 53-nation alliance made up largely of former members of the British Empire -- declared that Musharraf's emergency decree was taken "outside the provisions of the Constitution."

The group demanded that the Pakistani leader rescind the decree, step down as military chief, release those detained under the emergency decree, remove restrictions on the press and hold elections as called for in the constitution.

"If, after review of progress, Pakistan has failed to implement these necessary measures, we will suspend Pakistan from the councils of the Commonwealth," said Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, in anticipating the next November 22 meeting.

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Benazir Bhutto tests Pervez Musharraf’s strength
By Christina Lamb and Dean Nelson in Islamabad

BENAZIR BHUTTO last night demanded that General Pervez Musharraf step down and insisted that any hope of an understanding with him was now “finished”.
“By suspending the constitution and declaring a state of emergency he reneged on his promises to us,” Pakistan’s former prime minister declared. “Any understanding between us is now finished.”
In a late night telephone interview with The Sunday Times, Bhutto sounded tired but elated after what she described as “another long day”. She spoke of her outrage at Musharraf’s acts of the past week that have plunged the country into crisis.
“I feel absolutely shocked that we have these year-long negotiations and we agree to work together, then he turns around and suspends the constitution,” she said. “I have to wonder if he was ever serious.
“It wasn’t as if he had no alternative. Why did he do this when he could have carried on with the road map toward democracy agreed with the country’s biggest political party?”
His actions, Bhutto said, had forced her to call people out into the streets, something she had been eager to avoid for fear of bloodshed. It was to prevent this, she said, that she had agreed the deal which saw him dropping corruption charges against her, enabling her to return home last month after 8Å years in exile.
“Now he’s left us no choice but to call out the people,” she said. “I face a difficult predicament. I’ve long been worried about creeping Talibanisation in Pakistan and if I don’t take the lead then there may well be extremist elements that take advantage. So I have no choice.”
Bhutto insisted that the only way to avoid violence is for Musharraf to step down. “He’s put himself into a corner and it’s of his own making,” she said.
“His two trump cards were the international community and the army. Now he’s losing both. The only option he has is to step aside and hand power to an interim government of national consensus that will oversee elections. His time is up.”
On Friday, under international pressure, Musharraf announced that he would hold elections by February 15. Yesterday Malik Mohammed Qayyum, the attorney-general, told reporters that the state of emergency would “end within one month”. But Bhutto dismissed these assurances. “It would be impossible to have elections in these circumstances where both the courts and the election commission are in his control,” she said.
Musharraf's declaration of what amounted to martial law, arresting thousands, locking up judges and taking television stations off the air, has seen Bhutto transformed from someone doing a deal with a dictator into a woman — and mother — prepared to sacrifice everything for democracy.
She vowed to go ahead with the three-day Long March planned for this week from Lahore to Islamabad, despite further warnings of assassination attempts such as the suicide bombs that killed 140 people during her return to Karachi three weeks ago. The march will bring her into all-out confrontation with the regime.
“I know there are risks for my personal safety but I have to look at the bigger picture,” she said.
“Pakistan is facing the threat of disintegration. One by one the tribal areas have fallen to [the] Taliban and now they are advancing further into the northwest frontier. With an unrepresentative government and an army that is leaderless and rudderless, Pakistan is facing its most serious threat since 1971 [when the country split into two].”
However, the government insisted that the march would be blocked. “All marches, processions and political gatherings are banned at the moment, so I’m afraid the march has been outlawed,” said Tariq Azim, the information minister who was once an ally of Bhutto.
“We are committed to upholding the law and it must be applied equally for everyone, including Benazir Bhutto.”
Bhutto said she would not be deterred. “Even if they block it, it’s like a strike call because it paralyses the whole area. Either way they lose and we win. If they don’t interrupt it we show the numbers we can get out. If they do bring out all those police and teargassing, it still brings everything to a standstill and shows the numbers we would have had.”
Bhutto was speaking from her home in Islamabad after spending the day building up pressure on Musharraf with a series of high-profile visits around the Pakistani capital, constantly trailed by the microphones and lenses of the international media.
First she met non-governmental organisations and local journalists banned from reporting current events and protesting against new laws which impose jail sentences on anyone who criticises Musharraf. She also kept up international pressure on the government by holding a meeting with diplomats last night.
For the most part Bhutto seemed able to move unimpeded. The freedom of movement she is enjoying, while authorities admit that they have arrested more than 3,000 people, had prompted speculation that she might still be in negotiations with Musharraf.
However, Bhutto insisted that there is no contact between the two sides and that it is because of her high international profile that Musharraf has not arrested her. “The international interest in Pakistan is giving me more security, although at the same time it’s made me a bigger target for assassins,” she said.
It is increasingly hard to see a way out for Musharraf. Bhutto’s call for millions to join the march has alarmed senior military officers. It is widely believed that General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Musharraf's deputy chief of army staff, is unhappy about the emergency. He is being touted as the man to topple Musharraf and hand the government back to civilian politicians.
“Musharraf is making one bad decision after another,” said Bhutto. “First there were the peace agreements with the Taliban in the tribal areas, then the dismissal of the chief justice . . . now all this is coming home to roost. The only answer is for him to move aside.”
The last time Bhutto announced a Long March — in 1993, against the government of Nawaz Sharif and Ghulam Ishaq Khan, then president — she never needed to take a step. The night before the march, Khan resigned and called elections.
“That would be nice,” she said last night.

NOV. 3, 2007, will be remembered as the blackest day in the history of Pakistan. Let us be perfectly clear: Pakistan is a military dictatorship. Last Saturday, Gen. Pervez Musharraf removed all pretense of a transition to democracy by conducting what was in effect yet another extraconstitutional coup.

In doing so he endangered the viability of Pakistan as an independent state. He presented the country’s democratic forces with a tough decision — acquiesce to the brutality of the dictatorship or take over the streets and show the world where the people of Pakistan really stand.

General Musharraf also presented the democratic world — and especially the countries of the West — with a question. Will they back up their democratic rhetoric with concrete action, or will they once again back down in the face of his bluff?

In my view, General Musharraf’s ruling party understood that it would be trounced in any free elections and, together with its allies within the intelligence services, contrived to have the Constitution suspended and elections indefinitely postponed. Very conveniently, the assassination attempt against me last month that resulted in the deaths of at least 140 people is being used as the rationale to stop the democratic process by which my party would most likely have swept parliamentary elections. Maybe this explains why the government refuses to allow the F.B.I. and Scotland Yard to assist in a forensic investigation of the bombings.

As I write, demonstrations are taking place across Pakistan. Opposition party members, lawyers, judges, human rights advocates and journalists have been rounded up by the police without charge. The press has been seriously constrained. The chief justice of the Supreme Court and many other judges are believed to be under house arrest.

The United States, Britain and much of the West have always said the right things about democracy in Pakistan and around the world. I recall the words of President Bush in his second inaugural address when he said: “All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.”

The United States alone has given the Musharraf government more than $10 billion in aid since 2001. We do not know exactly where or how this money has been spent, but it is clear that it has not brought about the defeat of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, nor succeeded in capturing Osama bin Laden, nor has it broken the opium trade. It certainly has not succeeded in improving the quality of life of the children and families of Pakistan.

The United States can promote democracy — which is the only way to truly contain extremism and terrorism — by telling General Musharraf that it does not accept martial law, and that it expects him to conduct free, fair, impartial and internationally monitored elections within 60 days under a reconstituted election commission. He should be given that choice: democracy or dictatorship with isolation.

While the world must do its part to confront tyranny, the primary responsibility rests in the hands of the people of Pakistan. It is incumbent on Pakistanis to tell General Musharraf that martial law will not stand. The overwhelming majority of Pakistanis are moderate; it is my hope that they will unite in a coalition of moderation to marginalize both the dictators and the extremists, to restore civilian rule to the presidency and to shut down political madrassas, the Islamic schools that stock weapons and preach violence.

It is dangerous to stand up to a military dictatorship, but more dangerous not to. The moment has come for the Western democracies to show us in their actions, and not just in their rhetoric, which side they are on.

Benazir Bhutto, the prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996, is the leader of the Pakistan People’s Party.

As police and the military used tear gas to suppress a protest by thousands of lawyers in Pakistan's largest cities, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto spoke to TIME about the imposition of martial law by President Pervez Musharraf. She said that Musharraf was falling under the sway of the more radical parts of his Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) party. Still, she said she was not shutting the door on negotiations with Musharraf. Bhutto, who leads the huge People's Party, has not asked her millions of fervent followers to come out into the streets. During the interview, she evinced some sympathy for Musharraf over his feud with the Supreme Court. The court was about to decide whether he could simultaneously lead the military and be President when martial law was declared and the chief justice put under house arrest. The same Supreme Court was also to decide on the merits of Musharraf's U.S.-backed deal with Bhutto to drop corruption charges against her and her husband Asif Zardari so she could return from exile to run for office and regain the Prime Ministership. Nevertheless, Bhutto said that "extra-constitutional" methods were unnecessary and that martial law will only exacerbate Islamic militancy and terrorism. Meanwhile, the capital of Islamabad was in lockdown, with no demonstrations in sight as the roads surrounding the Supreme Court building were blocked by tanks and barbed wire and lined with hundreds of security personnel.

TIME: What do you make of Musharraf's declaration of emergency?
BENAZIR BHUTTO: Actually, we call it martial law. The constitution has been suspended and while Musharraf is terming it an emergency for international consumption, he has actually in his capacity of Chief of Army Staff suspended the constitution of Pakistan and promulgated a new provisional order. The result of this is that he has stopped democracy in its tracks. And he has given an extended life to his ruling PML-Q party.
I may mention that the PML-Q has some moderate elements in it, but the core strength of the Q comes from those people associated with General Zia ul Haq — the military dictator of the '80s that established the mujheddin — and it is these people whose governance has seen, by coincidence or otherwise, the growth of [Islamic] militancy in Pakistan. They are the ones that have presided over the signing of peace treaties and cease-fires in the tribal areas. They have lost control of our tribal areas.
The militants are knocking on the doors of Swat; they are eyeing the capital city of Islamabad. They have access to superior sources of plastic explosives and they have constructed bombs and improvised explosive devices to be used against my rally, against the ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] bus [in Rawalpindi on Oct. 20], against officers, against the air force. They call it suicide bombing, but it is not suicide bombing. Our analysis is that these are IEDs [Improvised Explosive Devices] that are being placed and have been hushed up under the name of suicide bombings.
That's why we have requested international assistance on the inquiry of the bomb blasts that took place on my procession on October 19th, because it follows the same pattern. And we think intelligence cooperation should be between Pakistani police and international police agencies, Scotland Yard or the FBI. We want to get to the bottom of the culprits behind these blasts.

And what does this mean for the future of the country?
It is a very big problem. It means that dictatorship will be sustained until it is reversed. It is a clear breach of the understanding that Musharraf has with my party. We have been engaged with him for a period of time for a negotiated peaceful transfer to democracy. He has promised to retire as army chief. He has promised to hold fair elections, and implement fair election reform. Contrary to these promises, he has imposed emergency without consulting me. We advised him against doing this. And he chose to side with the hard-core elements of the ruling PML-Q. Now I feel that until democracy is restored we will be fueling the forces of extremism.

Does this mean that all negotiations with him are off? Are you pulling the plug?
We are not pulling any plug; he is the one that stopped negotiating once I returned to the country. He calls me up to condole, and then after that I heard that his people were going to come and visit me to talk about the second phase, which was the implementation of the fair election proposal followed by the balance of power between the presidency and the parliament. But they never came. They kept saying they would come, but they never did. They never showed up. So in fact they just bought time, and then suddenly when I was in Dubai they announced martial law. I caught the first plane back to be with my people who have suffered so much. My people who had sacrificed 158 lives — the final death toll of the Karachi blasts.

So what does this mean for negotiations? Are you done?
Well, he may break his word, but we don't. We keep our word; we keep our commitments. We went forward with the process that we thought was in the national interest. Which was to take this nuclear armed nation, which is a key country in this region, towards democracy, so that there would be stability so that we could unite the forces of moderation, so we could confront the forces of extremism. But unilaterally they broke the negotiations by the imposition of emergency. So now we are demanding a return to the constitution, Musharraf to retire as chief of army staff, and that he hold the elections on time as he earlier committed to us.
We told him in August during our talks in London, that there were issues with his eligibility and that he needed to have constitutional reforms like balance of power between the presidency and the parliament. That could help the country go through this period with stability. But he said no, "I am eligible." This martial law was imposed because he was expecting an adverse court order on his eligibility. Whereas the eligibility issue could have been settled by parliament if he was willing to pay the political price that we demanded. But he preferred to impose martial law over seeking a political solution. And that's the dangerous part, that's the part that worries me.

If he goes ahead and answers your demands, do you think you can work with him in good faith?
My faith has certainly been shaken, but I would ask what's the timetable? As we have seen, the promises are made but then they are broken. What we are talking about to restore good faith is up-front action. We are talking about up-front revival of the constitution, up-front retirement as chief of army staff and up-front elections on schedule, announced by November 15th, and held by January 15th. If he is prepared to take these measures, along with some others, then we can say that all that has occurred, we will let it drop. But if he is not prepared to do this, then it becomes very difficult to work with someone who makes a promise but cannot keep it.

And what about reinstating the Supreme Court?
Well, we think that the judiciary should be respected.

So would you want to see the reinstatement of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry? And all the other dismissed judges?
Well, if there is a complaint against the judges, the government should follow the normal avenues of complaint. There are normal ways to address complaints against judges. You don't need extra-constitutional measures.

Do you think these judges were actually in the wrong?
I am not aware of the details but I know that General Musharraf has made some allegations against the judges, and they are allegations that they must respond to. They are very serious allegations. Without going into the merits of the allegations, I'm simply saying that there are ways to deal with these allegations of misconduct and not use them as a pretext for the imposition of martial law.

When Musharraf made his declaration of emergency rule, he said it was in the interest of fighting terrorism in Pakistan. Do you agree with him?
I agree that there is terrorism in the country, I believe it has spread since the 2002 elections when the People's Party was excluded from the government, but I don't believe martial law was declared to stop terrorism, I believe it was declared to stop an adverse decision by the Supreme Court on Musharraf's eligibility to remain as President and to keep the ruling PML-Q in power.

What kind of effect do you think martial law will have on terrorism?
This will worsen the situation for terrorism. It will take the focus of the army and the police away from fighting terrorists. The militants and terrorists would have wanted nothing better than a fresh confrontation between the people and the government. And it is to prevent instability that my party and I have taken the decision to have political negotiations with General Musharraf in order to weaken the terrorists. But I am afraid his actions have played into the terrorist's hands. And he should remedy it. All of us who have a stake in eliminating terrorism must all work together to reverse what has happened.

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Don’t expect the Constitution to be restored before a year
By Benazir Bhutto

* Urges global community to convince Gen Musharraf to restore Constitution
* Says suspension of fundamental rights hampering protest efforts

LAHORE: NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell spoke with former premier Benazir Bhutto at her home in Karachi. Bhutto had just arrived in Pakistan after the imposition of a state of emergency by President Pervez Musharraf.

MITCHELL: Prime Minister Bhutto, tell me what your latest information is about what President Musharraf has done, and your reaction to it.

BHUTTO: General Musharraf has suspended the Constitution of Pakistan, so it’s really a declaration of martial law. But he’s calling it an emergency. An emergency sounds more palatable to international opinion. But the proclamation says that the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan shall remain in abeyance, and that’s very worrying. My party and I would like to see the Constitution restored.

MITCHELL: Is there any justification that you know of for him declaring this suspension of the Constitution?

BHUTTO: Well, General Musharraf has tried to justify the imposition of martial law or emergency claiming that there has been an ascendancy in the activities of extremists. I agree with him that there has been ascendancy in the activities of the extremists, but I don’t believe in the solution. In my view, dictatorship fuels extremism. The extremists feed off dictatorship, and dictatorship feeds off the extremists. The dictatorship needs the extremists to justify its existence, and the extremists need dictatorship to expand and spread. So I believe the solution lies in respecting the Constitution, respecting the rule of law, and investing in the people, trusting the people, and allowing the people to determine their future.

MITCHELL: What are you planning to do?

BHUTTO: I returned to Pakistan to give moral support to the people of my country and to tell them that they were not alone in the struggle for the restoration of our Constitution. I plan to meet with leaders of other political parties and discuss with them the policies we should make in trying to seek a restoration of our Constitution.

MITCHELL: At this point, given what General Musharraf has done, have you abandoned any plan to work out a political agreement where you would run, and become prime minister, and work with him in a government?

BHUTTO: Well, it’s very difficult for me to work with a military leader. General Musharraf has committed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and he has personally assured me that he would retire as chief of Army Staff. But now he has declared martial law in this capacity, as chief of Army Staff. The Constitution gives our president emergency powers, but the constitutional articles for emergency have not been utilised. Instead, General Musharraf has said that in his capacity, that “I, General Pervez Musharraf, chief of the Army Staff, proclaim emergency”. So, he has actually said that he will continue as chief of Army Staff, and that makes for a very difficult situation. Of course, if he was to restore the Constitution and retire as chief of Army Staff, that would be a totally different situation. It would lend confidence that he was once again considering the democratic route. But not while he remains chief of Army Staff and suspends the Constitution.

MITCHELL: And what do you think you and your supporters can do now, politically or in any other fashion?

BHUTTO: Well, we would like to protest the imposition of martial law, and we would like to raise our voices for the restoration of democracy. So we’re going to be meeting together to discuss the most effective ways of doing that. We are calling upon the international community to use its enormous leverage with General Musharraf to persuade him that this is a regressive step, it’s a violation of the promises and the commitments that he made to the people of Pakistan and to the international community. And that if he really wishes to fight extremists, then the best way to do that is to trust the people, restore the Constitution, establish an independent Election Commission, and hold fair, free and impartial elections.

MITCHELL: Have you had any communication with Secretary Rice or any American officials?

BHUTTO: Not yet. I just came to Pakistan. But before, earlier, yesterday I heard that there were efforts being made to stop the imposition of emergency. And I also planned to come back to Pakistan so that I could also contact the people in the regime here and tell them not to take this step. But by the time I left, they had already taken this step.

MITCHELL: I’ve seen a report from Sky News that you believe that this is an attempt to delay elections for a year or two. Is that what you believe is happening?

BHUTTO: That’s right. My reports from inside the regime are that there is going to be a salami (piecemeal) approach, where we are going to be told this is a temporary measure for three to six months, and then it will be extended for another six months. And in fact, I believe that the hard-liners within the regime, and there are many hard-liners which served with an earlier military dictator of the 80’s, who formed the Afghan muhjahideen who went on to become Al Qaeda and the Taliban. These hard-liners believe that America will be caught up in the presidential elections for a year. And then a new administration in the US will take another year to settle down. And they feel they need two years to drive NATO out of Afghanistan, destabilise (Afghan President) Karzai, and set up a kind of puppet government there, as well to expand their influence in Pakistan. These are the reports I’m getting from inside the regime.

MITCHELL: You think that General Musharraf is trying to suspend the Constitution for an extended period of time, for a matter of years?

BHUTTO: Yes. But he will not say so immediately. It will be done in installments. I believe this position has been taken to suspend the Constitution for at least one year, if not two.

MITCHELL: I was going to ask you if you’re concerned for your safety?

BHUTTO: I do have concerns for the safety of all the people of my country, not just myself. I am unsure what will happen; this is a difficult period, but at the same time, General Musharraf has also been sensitive to international opinion. He was going to impose emergency earlier, and then the United States intervened; there was a long conversation with the secretary of State. And so I do believe that it’s very important for us to try and get Pakistan back on to the democratic track. To persuade General Musharraf to restore the Constitution, and to respect the courts, to respect the judiciary, and to trust the people of the country.

MITCHELL: Prime Minister, what would you like the
United States government to do at this stage?

BHUTTO: I would like the United States government to telephone General Musharraf to tell him that it’s not possible for them to support the suspension of Pakistan’s Constitution or the sacking of the judges. And that democracy is important, as President Bush has rightly said, it is democracy, it is the strength of the ballot, not the bullet, that is more important, and if it’s about winning hearts and minds then democracy is very important. I would like the United States to tell General Musharraf — please, accept the verdict of the people, hold elections, restore the Constitution..

MITCHELL: Do you think it’s so risky at this point that you would not hold rallies or marches? Have you decided one way or another what you want you and your political supporters to do?

BHUTTO: We would like to hold rallies and public demonstrations, but now fundamental human rights have been suspended, and we are going to have to get together to decide what is the best form of protest. But there will be a protest. Whether it’s a public meeting, whether it’s a sit-in, there will be protests, because it’s very difficult to keep quiet in the face of the suspension of the Constitution of Pakistan, which amounts to a military rule. We would like to see the restoration of the Constitution, and I would like to urge General Musharraf to restore the Constitution, to accept the verdict of the court, even if it’s a verdict that he does not like. Because we can only strengthen the rule of law if we accept the verdict of
the court. And I would like to ask Washington not to put everything behind one man, but to put it behind the people of Pakistan. People of my country must know that the international community and the
world’s only superpower stands with them rather than with an
individual. courtesy nbc news

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto's Address to Diplomats at PPP Foreign Liaison Committee Reception - Senate Hall - Islamabad

Ladies and gentlemen

I appreciate the opportunity to have this conversation with you, especially at this most critical time in the history of my nation.

Obviously Pakistan is at a turning point, and the direction we follow will not only impact the future of my nation, but I strongly believe will have a direct and immediate impact on the stability of the region and the stability of the world.

I take this opportunity to thank the International community for their support to the people of Pakistan in calling upon General Musharaf to lift the curbs of the media, release political prisoners, retire as Army Chief on schedule, and hold elections on schedule.

Democracy is morally right, and even more important to this forum, democracy is the only viable way to contain the growth of extremism, militancy and fanaticism that now threatens the world.

My Party, Nation and I have spent our lives fighting for democracy and for democratic governance. We are fighting now for democracy to safeguard people’s rights and also to safeguard the unity of Pakistan. Our goal is to ensure that through empowerment, employment and education, regions of my country cease being the Petri dish for international and national terrorist plots that threaten us all.

Pakistan under dictatorship is a pressure cooker. Without a place to vent, the passion of our people for liberty threatens to explode. The current military dictatorship that rules my country with an iron fist is opposing the inevitable forces of history. There is not enough barbed wire, or bullets, or bayonets to defeat my people’s unquestionable desire for democracy, for control over their own lives, for human rights, gender equality, labour and minority rights and for a chance to build a better life for their children. These are indeed the dreams of the Pakistani people and of all people. These are universal values.

It is eleven years since the destabilization of the democratic government I led but it has failed to crush the will and support of the people for a representative government that addresses the bread and butter issues of our people, 74% of whom live in poverty. Poverty has increased as has joblessness since the PPP government, with a 6% growth rate, without 10 billions of aid, was overthrown.

Yesterday my home was surrounded and I was unofficially put under house arrest because this military regime did not want the world to see that the people of Pakistan want change, want freedom, and want liberty. The garrison town of Pindi was cut off and surrounded. With blockades, barbed wire and the motorway closed. For 8 hours people were gassed and beaten. The brutal images of police beating innocent women were on every television screen on Earth. Tomorrow people of Sindh will hold protest meetings in every district to show solidarity with the people of Rawalpindi.

In Pakistan we say that there are two tests for the success of a public meeting. When the government does not use coercive methods to stop a meeting, the success is judged by the number of people present.

On October 18 the people of Pakistan held the most historic rally in the history of Pakistan when three million turned out in Karachi, stretching all the way back on the National Highway to receive me to express their hope that my return would be a catalyst of a change from dictatorship to democracy.

The second test of a popular public meeting is the amount of police force and measures used to block the peoples participation. The amount of force and restrictive measures is proportionate to the number of people expected to turn out and attend a public meeting.

Force was used to bring closure of Northern Pakistan on November 9, 2007. There was tear-gassing, baton charging, arrest of 5000 activists, including women parliamentarians from Peshwar to Rawalpindi, Karachi to Pindi, Lahore to Pindi and Islamabad to Pindi. The amount of force used was, according to our calculation,to stop a gathering of a million people. By both tests, coercive and non-coercive, the people rose to the occasion.

Now the ball is in the regime’s court. We have called for a Long March from Lahore from November 13, 2007. This is the March for Freedom, freedom from dictatorship, from militancy from poverty and unemployment

The current regime has convinced some Nations that General Musharaf alone stands in the way of a nuclear armed, fundamentalist Pakistan. This is a misperception. The religious parties in Pakistan have never received more than 11% of the vote in any election and they would receive less today. It is dictatorship that fuels extremism. The dictatorship of 80’s created the Afghan Mujahideen which morphed into Taliban and Al-Qaeda. The political partners of that dictatorship hold key positions in the political, administrative and security institutions of this dictatorship. They cannot, and have not contained extremism nor reduced poverty. They have exacerbated the situation to an extent where nuclear armed Pakistan is threatened with implosion.

Only a popularly elected democratic government with the mandate of the people has the political base to undermine the militants and bring peace to the people of Pakistan.

Ladies and gentlemen, Pakistan plays a central role in the direction of one billion Muslims on this planet. A Pakistan which is moderate, enlightened, modern can be a model to the people in the Muslim world who have to choose between the forces of the past and the forces of the future. Pakistan can be critical to democratic development and the containment of extremism all over Asia and Africa, and can spare our global community further senseless attacks from the forces of hatred.

The enemies of reconciliation amongst our peoples and our nations are trying desperately to provoke a clash of civilizations. These fanatics thrive on chaos. They thrive on the desperation that comes from dictatorship. Democracy suffocates them by giving people choices and giving people hope.

The PPP and I negotiated with General Musharaf’s regime for a peaceful transition to democracy. We worked on a road map for fair elections and transition to democracy.

Tragically, suddenly General Musharaf suspended the constitution and imposed Martial Law. This Martial law has been called an Emergency for International consumption.

Pakistan is in a crisis. Our country, armed forces, police, women, judges, lawyers, minorities, labour, peasants, students, intellectuals and youth are under assault, some by the militants, others by the military regime.

The choice must not be between the military or the militants the choice must be for the will of the people, for democracy.

If for no other reason than your own national self-interest, stand with us in our demand for free and fair elections with robust international monitoring.

The Taliban are coming nearer and nearer. I do not want to be melodramatic. But it is the harsh reality that they came from the mountains of Tora Bora to the tribal areas. First one agency fell, then another as the government struck ceasefires and peace treaties with them. Bajaur fell, Khyber fell, Waziristan fell. Now towns in Swat are falling. Madyan fell, Kalam fell. Today they knock on the doors of Shangla Hills.

The Freedom March, the caravan of democracy is not about Benazir Bhutto. This is not a about the Pakistan Peoples Party. This is about saving Pakistan from disintegration at the hands of militants who have grown in strength under a military dictatorship. They threaten us all. The people of Pakistan cannot be allowed to fall from one dictatorship to another, from military dictatorship to religious dictatorship. I have returned to help my people. My supporters, often from working families, often young, are risking their lives to save Pakistan by saving democracy. My Father gave his life for the democratic rights of the people.

We don’t accept tyranny. Our cause is just, our path is right for it is the path of truth, the path of the people. We appeal to all the people of our country to walk with us on our common destination towards freedom. We ask the international community to give us moral support.

We believe that victory and defeat are in the hands of God, as is life and death, but we must do what is right, what is just. We must raise our voices and begin the journey in the great walk from tyranny to freedom.

Elections-Speeches & Interviews

Ladies and gentlemen