Musharraf rules out return of exiled politicians

Islamabad, May 18: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ruled out the return of former Prime Ministers, Nawaz Sharif and Benanzir Bhutto, to take part in a general election due around the end of the year.

''Nobody is returning before the election,'' Musharraf said in an interview with private Aaj Television aired today.

General Musharraf is facing the most serious challenge to his authority since he seized power in 1999 over his attempts to replace the country's top judge.

Speculation has been rife that he might do a deal with Bhutto, who served two terms as Prime Minister in the 1980s and 1990s, but now lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a raft of corruption cases against her.

Musharraf ousted Sharif in 1999, exiled him, and co-opted the rump of Sharif's party to form his own political base.

Bhutto has confirmed holding talks with Musharraf's emissaries, raising talk that the two might overcome mutual distrust to forge a common front against religious conservative forces before the general election.

But Bhutto has insisted Musharraf should keep a commitment to step down as army chief by the end of 2007 before any deal could be reached.

Musharraf hasn't revealed his intentions but most people think he is reluctant to give up a position that he has regarded as crucial to his authority.

Analysts suspect Musharraf's real motive for levelling misconduct charges against Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, and plunging the country into a judicial crisis last March, was to replace him with a more pliable judge in case constitutional challenges emerge to his plans for re-election.

Musharraf has said he wants to be re-elected for another five years by the current assemblies in either September or October, after which the assemblies would be dissolved ahead of elections around November.

REUTERS

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