LONDON: A woman member of the Pakistan National Assembly claims that Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was deliberately creating conditions to have fresh elections so that she could return to power with a bigger majority than she now has.
“The growing confrontation between Benazir Bhutto and both the Army and the bureaucracy is all part of her elaborate plan to perpetuate conditions whereby she is ousted from office and fresh elections are called, enabling her to win a more convincing majority than she now has, “Ms Abida Hussain an independent member of the National Assembly said here.
“Benazir seems to be aiming to strengthen her hold on Pakistani politics in two rounds, otherwise she would not be making such suicidally moves,” says Ms Hussain in an interview.
Explaining Ms Bhutto’s perceived strategy, Ms Hussain said that the first round had been barely won by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) securing 93 out of 206 in the National Assembly. While this made them the largest single party in the Assembly, it was insufficient to ensure them forming the government without “outside support” from the USA.
The second round already in progress, she said was by engineering her own ouster by blatantly
challenging the armed forces and the bureaucracy all in the name of democracy. Then banking on the force of her international image she was confident of forcing a reelection and winning that with an enhanced majority.
‘Ms, Abida Hussain was the first woman ever in Pakistan to be sworn in as an elected MNA in 1985 after winning the Jhang seat in Punjab as an Independent candidate. She repeated her victory in Pakistan’s election last November, except this time round she was elected from two seats in Jhang district. A harsh critic of former President ZiaulHaq she suffered hardships at the hands of the military. Today she sits in the Assembly as part of the combined Opposition although retaining her independent status.
According to her the post-election scenario in Pakistan was marked by an agreement between the contending parties for power. The Americans she said, had assured a “piece of the pie” to everyone the ‘Army retained control the Afghan policy plus a guarantee of noninterference in its internal affairs the establishment was appeased by the continuance of Mr. Ishaq Khan as President and Ms. Bhutto was made Prime Minister. Ms. Bhutto’s share based continuance in office was dependent on each side respecting the family .
Article extracted from this publication >> September 8, 1989
