'PPP will not accept Prez in uniform'

Islamabad, Aug 25: Former Pakistan prime minister and self-exiled chairperson of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Benazir Bhutto said her party will not accept a president in uniform and continue working for transition towards a democratic dispensation in the country.

She said her intention is to return to Pakistan to campaign for her party and join other moderate political parties ''to try and bring about a transition''.

''A president in uniform blurs the distinction between democracy and dictatorship,'' Ms Bhutto told DawnNews TV channel.

She also said that ''the PPP would find it very hard to reconcile with that and ''we will not do so''.

Having recently commented that time was running out for ''crystallising'' the so-called power-sharing package with President Pervez Musharraf, Ms Bhutto noted they had not reached an agreement yet.

In an earlier interview with a foreign television channel, the former prime minister had said that her ''party is getting very upset because elections are round the corner and by end of the month, we really need to know where we stand. We either have a package or we don't have a package''.

Ms Bhutto had met Gen Musharraf in Abu Dhabi last month in a bid to strike the deal in a move bitterly criticised by leading opposition parties, including Pakistan Muslim League (PML) of another ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Bhutto's PPP and Sharif's PML had signed a charter of democracy (CoD) in London last year to wage a joint struggle against Musharraf and restoration of "genuine" democracy in the country. PML says that Bhutto violated the charter by holding power-sharing talks with Gen Musharraf.

''We are not interested in a deal, we are interested in democracy. We are negotiating to facilitate the transition to democracy'', Ms Bhutto said, adding that in her view, democracy was important for defeating extremism and terrorism.

Asked to spell out the PPP's position on Gen Musharraf's bid to have himself re-elected by the existing assemblies, and without giving up his military post, Ms Bhutto said, ''We believe that his election will be illegal and the electoral college would also be illegal. The PPP believes that it is illegal for a man in uniform to seek election''.

The PPP chairperson said that later this month in London the top leaders of her party will deliberate upon the election issue and a host of other matters. She did not categorically reject the possibility that her party would put up a candidate for the post of president.

Ms Bhutto also touched upon the possibility of internal reconciliation, in which context she cited PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif's recent statement, wherein he had spelled out the terms for attending any conference held on the government's initiative.

Referring to any role played by the United States in the ongoing dialogue between General Musharraf and her, Ms Bhutto termed such perceptions ''wild reports'', while conceding that Washington has great interest in Pakistan's transition to democracy.

UNI