Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister and chairwoman of the Pakistan PeopleÂ’s Party (PPP), has confirmed that she is holding talks with the government on sending the army back to barracks and ending the militaryÂ’s role in politics.| I doubt that'll ever happen in Pak. The army's not very good -- as we've pointed out here a time or two before, it's never managed to win a war -- and one of the reasons it's not, besides its fixation on jihad, is that it's become a career path for well-born Punjabis. They're estimated at 65% of the officers' corps and 70% for enlisted, from a 56 percent population base. Pashtuns, by the way, make up an estimated 15-22 percent of officers, 20-25 percent for the rank and file, leaving approximately squat for the Balochs and the Sindhis. Once you're in, you're taken care of for life unless you screw with the powers that be. The military can't walk away from that. |
In an earlier interview with Canadian Daily The Globe and Mail, Bhutto said that the PPP was in contact with Gen Musharraf to ensure that the upcoming elections were free and fair. She reconfirmed to Geo news that her contacts with the government were for holding of transparent elections in Pakistan. “He (Musharraf) and I speak from different vantage points,” Bhutto said. “He needs the extremist issue to legitimise his rule. I don’t. I need the people’s support.”
Bhutto said that President MusharrafÂ’s position had weakened after he filed the presidential reference against Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on March 9, and the Lal Masjid operation and Justice ChaudhryÂ’s reinstatement by the Supreme Court had further damaged his standing at home and abroad.
Meanwhile, talking to British legislators, Bhutto said that she had signed the Charter of Democracy with Nawaz Sharif to bring an end to the armyÂ’s interference in politics. The PPP chairwoman urged the British parliamentarians to help the Pakistani nation restore democracy in Pakistan.