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Opposition divided on poll boycott

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party leader Benazir Bhutto launched her party’s manifesto for the January 8 election on Friday, underlining the differences between her and a Nawaz Sharif-led opposition grouping that has said it will boycott the elections.

Unveiling the manifesto at her home in the capital, Ms. Bhutto told journalists that her party would participate in the elections, but “under protest”.

“We are preparing for elections, but if the opposition can agree through discussions on a common goal, a common agenda, on transformation, and what to do next, we will reconsider our decision [to participate in the election],” Ms. Bhutto said.

The former Prime Minister said she feared the elections would not be free and fair, but said “a joint opposition has to be really joint.”

The Nawaz Sharif-led All Parties Democratic Movement said on Thursday that it would boycott the election as it could not be free and fair without the reinstatement of the judges President Pervez Musharraf sacked when he imposed November 3 emergency.

The APDM has set December 15, the last date for withdrawal of nominations, a day before General (retd.) Musharraf has said he will lift the emergency, as the deadline for meeting its condition.

But even within the APDM, there are divisions on the issue. The Jamiat-e-Ulema Islami led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, which is part of the right-wing Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, had already decided it would participate in the election, and boycotted the meeting.

The Awami National Party, a party of secular, moderate Pashtuns in the North-West Frontier Province, attended the meeting but distanced itself from the decision, saying it would join a boycott only if the entire opposition, including PPP and JuI were on board.

As it stands now, only two big parties, Mr. Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N) and the Jamat-i-Islami, the other main constituent of the MMA, are in favour of a boycott. Even the PML (N) is divided within on the issue. Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, which is the only one totally dead set on a boycott, is a one-man party, and had only seat in the last Parliament.

The APDM has formed committees to convince the PPP, the JuI and the ANP to join the boycott. Making it sound quite serious, Mr. Sharif said that unless Gen. Musharrf restored the judiciary, the boycott would go ahead even if these parties were determined to participate in the election.

Pakistan’s civil society, intelligentsia and the legal community are jacking up pressure on political parties to press ahead for the reinstatement of the sacked judges.

Lawyers and civil society activists held a sizeable rally near deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary’s home on Friday, demanding the reinstatement of the judges, and demanded that the political parties not take part in the election if that does not happen.

“Boycott, boycott,” they shouted as they marched up to Mr. Chaudhary’s home before being stopped by riot police some distance away.

“Removing the emergency on December 16 means nothing until the judiciary is restored. The martial law was only to remove the Chief Justice Ifthikar Chaudhary and to attack the independent judiciary,” said Athar Minallah, a lawyer who was detained last week as he tried to meet Mr. Chaudhary and released after a few days in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail .

“At the moment, we are focusing only on one thing – and that is to completely paralyse the provisional constitutional order courts [ under judges who took fresh oath of office after the emergency]. Political parties that are not part of this movement will become irrelevant,” Mr Minallah said.

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