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Tuesday,
August 6, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Benazir
names new party wing to contest poll Pak not to
allow Shahbaz to return 6 die as gunmen attack Christian school Pervez was
rebuked over Kargil |
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Chandrika,
PM trade threats Karzai-Fahim
split widens Israel,
Egypt hold talks to end crisis
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Benazir names new party wing to contest poll Islamabad, August 5 The new development came as political parties rushed to the Election Commission today to submit reports on their new internal elections as well as accounts as stipulated by the Musharraf government. There was a scramble at the Election Commission office here as today was the last date for the parties to submit their reports in order to register afresh with the Commission to contest the October 10 general election to the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies. Meanwhile, Bhutto sprang a last minute surprise by nominating a new wing of her party called Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians under the Vice-Chairman, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, to run for the polls. Fahim later filed the papers before the Election Commission notifying his election. Another senior leader, Raja Pervez Ashraf, was appointed Secretary General, a PPP press release here said. Bhutto made the changes in compliance with the rule brought in by the Musharraf Government barring any politician or a political party headed by him or her from contesting the polls if convicted by courts. Bhutto who faced several corruption cases was convicted for not appearing before the court. The formation of a separate wing to contest the October elections without her placed Bhutto’s promised political comeback in doubt. But the PPP also said it would launch a legal challenge to a law passed on August 2 that bans absconders from holding party office or running for election. The August 2 law against absconders was the latest seen as targeting Bhutto. Meanwhile, Benazir Bhutto’s counsel Dr Baber Awan said she cannot be arrested on her landing. “Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Benazir Bhutto can safely land back home without any chance of her arrest,’’ Dr Awan told The News in an interview. Dr Awan, who is representing the PPP leadership in accountability and other cases, said the authorities could not arrest a person convicted in absentia Bhutto, who is in self-exile, however, maintained earlier that she would not back down but stepped back in the last minute as it could make it easier for the regime to disqualify her party, which was perceived to be a front runner to win the polls. The party maintained that Bhutto would remain a political guide of this new grouping although she would not hold an elective office in it. This is the first time that the party nominated a non-Bhutto as its leader after it was founded by Benazir’s father, the late Prime Minister, Z.A. Bhutto, who was executed by the previous military regime. Barring a few almost all parties including deposed premier Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) filed their papers with the Election Commission, which has been accused by mainstream political parties as “rubber stamp” of the government. Another established party, the Awami National Party, (ANP) refused to comply with the new rules and challenged the Election Commission to take actions against it.
PTI, AFP |
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Pak not to allow Shahbaz to return
Islamabad, August 5 The military regime will not permit deposed premier Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shahbaz to return from his exile despite his election as leader of PML (N), Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider told reporters in Karachi. “Shahbaz and other members of the Sharif’s family opted to leave the country as a part of a deal struck with the government and would be dealt with accordingly... it is between the parties that permitted them to leave Pakistan safely and his return would be a violation”, Mr Haider said. Sharif has consistently denied any deal between him and the regime that banished him and his family for 10 years. Mr Haider denied media reports that Mr Shahbaz’s election followed a deal between Mr Nawaz Sharif and the Musharraf regime to isolate Ms Bhutto. Mr Haider also said Ms Bhutto should return from her self-exile to “admit to her guilt” in the corruption cases filed against her and apply for a “plea bargain”. Plea bargain is the new compromise formula brought in by the military regime under which politicians and officials are given the chance to plead guilty to charges against them and pay the stipulated amounts fixed by the NAB, an official agency probing corruption cases.
PTI |
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6 die as gunmen attack Christian school
Islamabad, August 5 He said the exact number of wounded was not yet known. Abbassi said the attackers were believed to have been on motorcycles. He said they fled after the attack and were thought to be hiding out in nearby woods. Last October 16 Christians and a Muslim were massacred in a church in Bahawalpur in the populous Punjab province. The unidentified assailants sprayed bullets on the Christian high school, local police officer Mohammad Yasin said.
Reuters |
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Pervez was rebuked over Kargil New York, August 5 The remark was reported by New Yorker magazine in its latest issue but it did not identify the teacher. However, Musharraf, who was the Army chief during the Kargil conflict, said that Pakistan would not give up Kashmir. “The people of Kashmir won’t give up. It has been our national interest since 1947 and we won’t give it up,” he told the magazine in an interview.
PTI |
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Chandrika, PM trade threats Colombo, August 5 Almost eight months after the two rival party leaders began the island’s first power-sharing arrangement, Ms Kumaratunga and Mr Wickremesinghe are in a standoff over who has more constitutional clout. Government sources said today that Mr Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP), the main constituent of the ruling coalition, had laid down an ultimatum asking Ms Kumaratunga to agree to curtail her powers in exchange for not demanding a snap poll. The UNP went into a huddle yesterday evening after a pro-government newspaper published a report of a plot hatched by Ms Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance (PA) coalition to oust Mr Wickremesinghe’s administration through a constitutional coup. The report said the PA was planning to entice disgruntled government legislators to its side and install its former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar as an interim Prime Minister. “This is a serious development and our party is going to consider our options,” Constitutional Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris said today, adding that party meetings would be held to work out a counter-strategy. Most political parties have objected to facing another general election, the third in three years, and the island’s business community has said it would hamper efforts to get the struggling economy out of a recession. Moderate Tamil parties have expressed concern that a poll at this time could hamper Norway’s efforts to open peace talks between the government and Tamil Tiger guerrillas fighting for an independent state in the island’s northeast. The present standoff developed amid UNP fears that Ms Kumaratunga could use her presidential power to dismiss the government in December when it completes one year in office.
IANS |
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Karzai-Fahim split widens Washington, August 5 Mr Fahim, leader of the Northern Alliance militia, held sway in the government in the first six months after Mr Karzai was appointed the interim leader but the balance of power tipped since Mr Karzai was elected president, the Washington Post said. “For six months, Mr Fahim dictated to Mr Karzai, and he was the most powerful man in Afghanistan. Now he is worried that may change,” the daily said. |
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Israel, Egypt hold talks to end crisis
Cairo, August 5 Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher earlier said Egypt would use the visit to make suggestions to Israel about what it should do to end the violence, including calling for Israel to withdraw from Palestinian Authority areas. Maher was quoted by Egypt’s Middle East News Agency late on Sunday as saying: “The whole world knows that Israel is blocking the doors to political moves and a political settlement.” The one-day visit to Cairo by Peres, an Israeli dove who last travelled to Egypt more than a year ago, follows talks in July between Mubarak and Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer in Alexandria.
Reuters |
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Islamabad, August 5
