LAHORE, 16 April 2005 — The husband of Pakistani opposition-leader-in-exile Benazir Bhutto yesterday vowed “street agitation” if the government tried to block a rally by supporters to welcome him home at the weekend.
Asif Ali Zardari made the vow after Benazir’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) complained that thousands of its activists had been detained to prevent them going to Lahore today to mark his return from a visit to his wife in Dubai.
“We don’t want confrontation with the government,” Zardari told reporters in Lahore by telephone from Dubai. “But they have created a situation under which we have no other option but to launch street agitation.”
“We will launch a movement to fill jails,” he added. The crackdown has dimmed hopes of reconciliation between military ruler President Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, and Benazir and raised prospects of a showdown today.
In an interview on Thursday, Musharraf said he would be willing to meet former Prime Minister Benazir to advance a rapprochement, but not yet, and added that rallies for Zardari’s welcome would not help reconciliation.
Authorities have effectively barred the PPP from rallying in Lahore by extending a temporary ban on gatherings of more than three people.
As Zardari was speaking from Dubai to reporters gathered at his residence in a posh neighborhood of Lahore, a large number of policemen surrounded the house to prevent anyone approaching.
PPP lawmaker Sherry Rehman said tens of thousands of Benazir’s supporters had been detained throughout the country in the past few days.
Police have confirmed arrests of PPP workers but have refused to give figures.
Musharraf, due to leave for India today in an attempt to move forward a slow-moving peace process, said it was important for moderate forces to unite against extremism.
However, he added: “The attempt to disturb law and order in Lahore on the 16th is not conducive to good, harmonious relations.”
Benazir, prime minister for two terms in the 1980s and 1990s, has lived in self-imposed exile for fear of arrest on corruption charges since 1999 and Musharraf has in the past said she would not be allowed to return to politics.
However, apparently seeking to bolster his power base and respond to Western critics pushing him to lift curbs on democracy, Musharraf appears to have softened his position in recent months.
Officials say behind-the-scene talks have taken place between Benazir and Musharraf’s aides but little concrete progress has been seen.
Zardari was released from prison on bail in November after eight years in jail on charges ranging from corruption to murder.
His release raised speculation Musharraf might try to improve relations with Benazir’s party, but authorities then blocked by force his attempts to rally her supporters.
