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Disinformation, says Benazir party

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party on Tuesday stepped up efforts to dispel doubts over the return of its leader Benazir Bhutto on October 18 after eight years of self-exile in London and Dubai.

The party held country-wide press conferences to reiterate that Ms. Bhutto will be arriving at Karachi as scheduled, and that rumours she was not coming back were “disinformation” spread by those who were afraid that their political careers would be cut short with her return.

“October 18 will be a historic day for Pakistan and the Pakistan People’s Party. On that day, our leader will be returning. She will bring a fresh breeze into the politics of Pakistan, give it a new democratic direction. Pakistanis will derive courage from her presence in the country, and those people who are Chief Ministers and Prime Ministers now are about to see an abrupt end to their careers,” said Raja Pervez Ashraff, PPP secretary-general.

The PPP is expecting tens of thousands of people to converge in Karachi ahead of her arrival on Thursday afternoon for a rousing welcome to their leader, who left the country in 1999.

“From the enthusiasm of the people, I can say that we are going to break the record of 1986,” said Mr. Ashraff, referring to her first homecoming when lakhs of people swarmed the roads to welcome her back in Lahore, seven years after her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hanged by another military ruler, Zia ul Haq.

Ms. Bhutto would return despite the security threats she faced, he said, adding that the PPP had conveyed its concerns over her security to the federal and provincial governments.

“She is the twice-elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, and we expect the government to provide appropriate security to her. The PPP has taken some steps of its own, but ultimately the government is responsible,” Mr. Ashraff said. Ms. Bhutto is expected to leave from Karachi International Airport in a long procession, but fears for her security mean she will be transported in a converted shipping container fitted with bullet-proof glass. Her first stop in the city will be the mausoleum of Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, where she plans to address supporters, proceeding to Bilawal House, her home in Clifton, next. She will stay on in Karachi for a couple of days before leaving for her ancestral village Naudero in Larkana in the Sindh province.

Defending the National Reconciliation Ordinance between Ms. Bhutto and President Musharraf, Mr. Ashraff said it was unfair to keep cases hanging over the heads of political leaders for 11 years without a shred of evidence.

He said there was no drop in the party’s popularity on account of this, and predicted that in the next election, the party would come back with a two-thirds majority.

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