Benazir Bhutto has served an ultimatum to President Pervez Musharraf to come clean on political reforms by Thursday or face the consequences of his silence.
Musharraf must make deal public by Thursday or face consequences: Benazir
LONDON/ISLAMABAD: Benazir Bhutto has served an ultimatum to President Pervez Musharraf to come clean on political reforms by Thursday or face the consequences of his silence. Meanwhile, reports from Pakistan say an embattled Musharraf has reportedly agreed to finalise the power sharing deal with Bhutto by the weekend.
A senior Pakistan People's Party official told DNA that Bhutto told Musharraf's representatives here that the General must spell out his response to her proposals on political and poll reforms by August 30. "She bluntly told them that if Musharraf tries to buy time, she would be forced to go public with her reform proposals and let the people of Pakistan judge for themselves how serious he is about reviving democracy," he said.
But he refused to elaborate on the reform proposals. According to him, the talks had reached an 'inconclusive stalemate' which 'only the General can break'. "But the General is sticking to his guns. So let us see how it plays out," he said.
The deadline is significant because Bhutto has summoned as many as 60 members of the PPP's central committee and federal council to London for a meeting on August 31. Among Musharraf's envoys who turned up at Bhutto's central London flat between were Tariq Aziz, secretary of the National Security Council, ISI chief Lt Gen Ashaq Pervez Kiani and retired army chief Hamid Javed.
According to sources, the General might concede to Bhutto's demand of taking off his uniform before seeking his re-election as the president for a second five-year term. The looming threat of the immediate return of Sharif before the election is said to have prompted the London meeting at a short notice.
There are two bottlenecks: president's uniform and the third-term of premiership for Benazir. The sources said the Americans, are putting an extra effort to finalise the deal.
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