Minister says Bhutto can’t run for 3rd term

Free and transparent elections are not possible in a state of emergency as political parties would not have a level-playing field, Bhutto told reporters in Lahore ahead of her party’s planned march.

“In the given circumstances, boycotting elections can be an option,” she told reporters, adding a decision will be taken after the PPP consults other political parties.

“We are saying no to any more talks. It is a change from my past policy,” Bhutto told reporters in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province.

“We cannot work with anyone who has suspended the Constitution, imposed Emergency rule and oppressed the judiciary. That’s why we are holding the long march,” she said.

Meanwhile, in Islamabad, Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a close aide of Musharraf, said there is no possibility of Bhutto being given a third prime ministerial term.

He also ruled out the possibility of Article 58(2b) of the Constitution — which gives the President the power to dismiss the Prime Minister and to dissolve Parliament being abrogated as demanded by Bhutto.

“I can see anybody as Prime Minister but not Benazir Bhutto,” Ahmed told a press conference.

Describing Bhutto as the “most corrupt, dishonest, sluggish and extravagant” politician in Pakistan, Ahmed said “every contact has ended” between the ruling PML-Q and Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party.

Bhutto said that though Musharraf has accepted the PPP’s demand for holding the election in January as scheduled, he has not delivered on other pledges.

“It is very difficult for us to participate in the elections with our hands tied. It is difficult for us to participate in polls without a level playing field.”

She also demanded the lifting of the Emergency and the reinstatement of deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and all other judges who did not endorse the Provincial Constitutional Order (PCO).

“The decision to impose an Emergency and not to quit his military uniform has led to a breakdown of talks between us and the Musharraf regime,” Bhutto said.

Earlier, stepping up pressure on Musharraf, several key Opposition parties announced a boycott of the planned polls if they are held under Emergency rule, saying the elections will be a sham unless the General lifts the curbs. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif, Jamaat-e-Islami and Tehreek-i-Insaaf of cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan have decided not to take part in elections held under Emergency.

Meanwhile, Pakistan government on Monday asked Benazir Bhutto not to go ahead with her “long march” on Tuesday in protest against Emergency, citing threats of suicide bombers to her as even as she vowed to go ahead with the event.

The Interior Ministry conveyed to Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party about reports that suicide bombers intended to target her.

However, setting up stage for confrontation, Bhutto vowed to go ahead with her “long march” from Lahore to Islamabad, which will traverse some 300 km through Punjab ruled by PML-Q.