Benazir may head interim govt

"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."

By: Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

(November, 05, Islamabad, Sri Lanka Guardian) 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.