The Hindu : Front Page : Time for Musharraf to step down, says Benazir

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007
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Time for Musharraf to step down, says Benazir

Nirupama Subramanian

A significant change from her past policy of never attacking Musharraf directly

— PHOTO: AFP

STIFLING VOICES: Slogan-shouting supporters of the former Pakistan Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, being arrested near her residence in Lahore on Tuesday.

LAHORE: In her most decisive remarks against Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf yet, the former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, on Tuesday held him directly responsible for the country’s crisis. She demanded that he step down both as Army chief and head of state, appearing to signal that she had parted ways with him for good.

In a series of telephone interviews to Western media after she was put under house arrest here, Ms. Bhutto declared that it was time for President Musharraf to quit. This is a significant change from her past policy of never attacking him directly as she engaged in power-sharing talks with him.

“No more negotiations”

But Ms. Bhutto said there could be no more negotiations as the President had gone back on the roadmap to democracy he had promised her by imposing the Emergency.

“I think he has to leave. He is out of his depth. He has failed to build a democratic base. He should quit as the President and Army chief. He’s turned out to be the main obstacle to building an alliance of moderate forces that are standing up to extremism,” the Pakistan People’s Party leader told BBC.

Put under house arrest

The Punjab government placed her under house arrest in the early hours of Tuesday, preventing her from leading a “long march” to the capital Islamabad. Hundreds of policemen were deployed around the house of a prominent PPP politician, where Ms. Bhutto was camping since Sunday to prepare for the march.

The former Prime Minister was served with a seven-day detention order, and the house declared a sub-jail. The road on which the house is located in the posh Defence area has been barricaded. Three massive trucks stationed behind the barricades blocked out any view of the house, in which Ms. Bhutto is locked down with a few party aides.

“Security precautions”

In Islamabad, an Interior Ministry spokesman said there was “a real” threat to Ms. Bhutto’s life and the government was taking extra security precautions in the interests of her safety.

A PPP spokesperson said “thousands” of party workers had been arrested. Despite the government’s move to lock up as many of its members, the party had been able to go ahead with its long march as planned, led by its Punjab head Shah Mohammed Qureishi.

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