Pakistan's Bhutto details possible power-sharing deal with Musharraf

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Former premier Benazir Bhutto detailed for the first time a plan to keep Pakistan's U.S.-allied president in office under a power-sharing deal she said would strengthen the fight against terrorism.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf is seeking a new five-year presidential term but faces mounting pressure to step down as army chief and restore democracy, eight years after he seized power in a coup.

In remarks to a U.S. network broadcast Tuesday, Bhutto outlined a possible agreement that would reduce Musharraf's power while allowing her to return from exile — and perhaps to government.

"So we're not trying to bail out a military dictator by saying we will come there on your terms. What we are seeking is a compromise that could help bring about a stable, democratic, civilian order," Bhutto said on PBS' "NewsHour With Jim Lehrer."

"What we're negotiating for are certain changes that will empower the Parliament to take on the militants," she said.




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A deal with Bhutto offers Musharraf a chance to fend off legal challenges to his continued rule and make good on pledges to combat the Taliban and al-Qaida, viewed with growing skepticism in Washington and other NATO capitals.

However, he has given no clear indication that he will make concessions demanded by Bhutto, including quitting the powerful post of army chief.

Bhutto said Musharraf had to lift a ban on twice-elected prime ministers — such as herself and another exiled former leader, Nawaz Sharif — from seeking a third term.

Corruption charges against her, her husband and other former leaders who have been "persecuted for a very long time" must be dropped, she said.

Musharraf must also explain how election organizers will prevent parliamentary polls to be held by January from being "stolen in the field" and give some of the sweeping powers he took after the 1999 coup back to Parliament.

Asked what she was offering in return, Bhutto sketched a path through the legal labyrinth that other opposition parties insist preclude Musharraf's staying in power.

"There are going to be two presidential elections. The first presidential election is going to take place in September, when General Musharraf is still wearing the (military) uniform," Bhutto said.

While her Pakistan People's Party could not vote for him so long as he remains army chief, she suggested it would endorse him later if he gives up that post at the end of the year, as stipulated by the constitution.

"If the (parliamentary) elections are fair, and we have a level playing field, and he seeks re-election from the next assembly, then certainly the Parliament can consider that, if the uniform is not there," she said.

Bhutto blamed the military-led government for spreading extremism in Pakistan, but avoided direct criticism of Musharraf.

She accused unidentified Cabinet ministers of "collusion" with militants and said Parliament needed the power to act "without being destabilized by elements of the security apparatus who do not wish to see the terrorists and the extremists contained."

Asked about comments by U.S. officials suggesting American forces could strike unilaterally against al-Qaida targets in Pakistan, Bhutto said she opposed "unauthorized military action that violates Pakistan's sovereignty.

"But at the same time, I recognize that, unless the government of Pakistan is able to take control of its own territories, Pakistan will face the danger of outside military strikes."

Bhutto warned Musharraf to take concrete steps toward democratic reform by the end of August to keep a power-sharing deal on track or face a united opposition.

"I hope it doesn't come to a breakdown in the negotiations ... but at the end of the day, we can't afford to be contaminated by his unpopularity without getting the prize for democracy," she said.