ISLAMABAD, Reuter: Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo has ruled out any compromise with political parties seeking to oust him as a courtroom confrontation looms: with jailed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
In remarks published, Junejo once again rejected the opposition demand for new elections before the end of the year and said there was no need for talks with opposition groups.
He spoke to reporters in the Punjab provincial capital Lahore after meetings with parliament members.
The meetings followed a major government crackdown on the opposition this month in which hundreds of people were arrested and at least 19 killed in clashes with police, Bhutto’s lawyers said she was planning to challenge her twelve day old detention in court.
Bhutto, daughter and political heir of executed former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was jailed in Karachi on August 14 for defying a government ban on political rallies.
Bhutto’s lawyer, Hafeez Lakho, told Reuters in Karachi that she had applied to the Sind High Court for permission to consult lawyers about challenging the detention through a writ petition.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 29, 1986
