Former Pakistan premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif are showing signs of returning to their old ways with both leaders taking pot shots at each other.
ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, bitter rivals before they found a common adversary in President Pervez Musharraf, are showing signs of returning to their old ways with both leaders taking pot shots at each other even as they talk of a joint front against the military ruler.
Though Bhutto, who returned from eight years in exile last month, and her Pakistan People's Party welcomed Sharif's homecoming on Sunday, they have pointed out that it was facilitated by her initiatives.
Bhutto said on Sunday that Sharif was able to come back to Pakistan because of the National Reconciliation Ordinance which grants politicians amnesty in graft cases.
Sharif, she said, was returning under the government's reconciliation policy which was the result of the PPP's efforts.
"Nawaz Sharif is back under the Reconciliation Ordinance and the credit goes to PPP," she said.
PPP spokesperson Sherry Rehman, a close confidant of Bhutto, said on Monday she did not want to cause 'embarrassment' to Sharif by raising the issue of the agreement he had signed with Musharraf to go into exile for 10 years in exchange for the dropping of a prison term.
Rehman also pointed out that Sharif's convictions in various cases were hanging 'over his head unless he has come back under the NRO'.
Sharif has reserved most of oratory for criticism of Musharraf who deposed him in 1999. However, addressing his supporters this morning in Lahore, he took a veiled swipe at Bhutto saying his party had to defeat 'those who were making deals and bowing their head before a dictator'.
In an apparent reference to the secret parleys Bhutto held with Musharraf on a possible power-sharing arrangement, Sharif said, "These politicians who make deals, who bow their heads in front of a dictator, we have to defeat them."
The PML-N chief also said repeatedly that his homecoming was not due to any deal or understanding with Musharraf.
Bhutto and Sharif are also yet to find any common ground on the issue of participating in the January 8 general election though both have said the polls will not be free and fair in a state of emergency.
The PPP leader has said she expects the election to be held on schedule.
The All Parties Democratic Movement, of which the PML-N is a member, will meet on November 29 to discuss the option of boycotting the polls.
The PPP, which is not a part of the opposition grouping, has said it will assess the situation after APDM announces its stance.
"We have to see whether the APDM stands with its announcement regarding a boycott or revises the policy and follows our lead (of participating in the polls)," Bhutto said.
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