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Islamabad: Former premier Benazir Bhutto detailed for the first time a plan to keep Pakistan's US-allied president in office under a power-sharing deal she said would strengthen the fight against terrorism.
President Gen Pervez Musharraf is seeking a new five-year presidential term but faces mounting pressure to step down as army chief and restore democracy, eight years after he seized power in a coup.
In remarks to a US network broadcast on Tuesday, Bhutto outlined an agreement that would reduce Musharraf's power while allowing her to return from exile - and perhaps to government.
"So we're not trying to bail out a military dictator by saying we will come there on your terms. What we are seeking is a compromise that could help bring about a stable, democratic, civilian order," Bhutto said on PBS' News Hour With Jim Lehrer. "What we're negotiating for are certain changes that will empower the Parliament to take on the militants," she said.
A deal with Bhutto offers Musharraf a chance to fend off challenges to his continued rule and make good on pledges to combat the Taliban and Al Qaida, viewed with growing scepticism in Washington and other Nato capitals with troops in neighbouring Afghanistan.
However, he has given no clear indication that he will make concessions demanded by Bhutto, including quitting the powerful post of army chief. Musharraf's spokesman was not immediately available for comment yesterday.
Bhutto said Musharraf had to lift a ban on twice-elected prime ministers - such as herself and another exiled former leader, Nawaz Sharif - from serving again.
Graft charges against herself, her husband and other former officials must be dropped, she said. Both Bhutto and Sharif have vowed to return to Pakistan this year, moves which would raise the political heat even further. Sharif has appealed to the Supreme Court, whose chief justice recently defeated an effort by Musharraf to fire him, to ensure that he is not arrested or deported if he takes the plunge.
Bhutto said Musharraf must also explain how organisers will prevent parliamentary polls to be held by January from being "stolen in the field" and give back to Parliament some of the sweeping powers he took after ousting Sharif in 1999. Asked what she was offering in return, Bhutto sketched a path through the legal labyrinth that other opposition parties insist preclude Musharraf's staying in power.
"There are going to be two presidential elections. The first presidential election is going to take place in September, when General Musharraf is still wearing the [military] uniform," Bhutto said. While her Pakistan People Party could not vote for him while he remains army chief, she suggested it would endorse him later if he gives up that post.
"If the [parliamentary] elections are fair, and we have a level playing field, and he seeks re-election from the next assembly, then certainly the Parliament can consider that, if the uniform is not there," she said.
Bhutto blamed the military-led government for spreading extremism in Pakistan, but avoided direct criticism of Musharraf.
She accused unidentified Cabinet ministers of "collusion" with militants.
Asked about comments by US officials suggesting American forces could attack Al Qaida targets in Pakistan, Bhutto said she opposed "unauthorised military action that violates Pakistan's sovereignty. "But at the same time, I recognise that, unless the government of Pakistan is able to take control of its own territories, Pakistan will face the danger of outside military strikes."
Bhutto warned Musharraf to take concrete steps toward democratic reform by the end of August to keep a power-sharing deal on track or face a united opposition. "I hope it doesn't come to a breakdown in the negotiations."
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