No agreement with Musharraf regime on axing Article 58-2(b): Benazir

Former premier Benazir Bhutto has said that no agreement could be reached with the Musharraf regime on abolishing the Article 58-2(b), which provides power to the President to dissolve the assemblies.

Karachi, Oct 28 : Former premier Benazir Bhutto has said that no agreement could be reached with the Musharraf regime on abolishing the Article 58-2(b), which provides power to the President to dissolve the assemblies.

Addressing a news conference at her Naudero residence, Bhutto said that she had taken her party into confidence on the issue of becoming the Prime Minister for the third time.

Refuting reports of deal with Musharraf, she said the PPP had been in the negotiation process with Musharraf for transparent transition of power from military to civilian hands and added the PPP wanted a neutral interim set up in Pakistan.

Bhutto said she had returned to the country with a new message of love, peace and democracy.

She said the presence of three million people belonging to different parts of the country, including the Northern Areas, in Karachi was a vivid testimony that the people of Pakistan wanted a change.

However, she said negotiations were being held with the government for the restoration of democracy. Bhutto said she wanted the people to get power to rule, the unemployed to get employment and the backward people to get improved life.

She said the people want free, fair and transparent elections in the country.

Commenting on the National Reconciliation Ordinance, Bhutto said the cases against her were not strong and by signing the ordinance the cabinet admitted that the cases were fabricated. She described it as her moral victory.

Talking about the "Chaudhry brothers", Bhutto said in her absence and that of Nawaz, the Chaudhry brothers got full advantage.

Earlier, thousands of PPP supporters cheered Benazir Bhutto as she visited her ancestral village of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh amid tight security on Saturday.

Heavily armed guards surrounded her family's mausoleum, where she had gone to offer prayers, The News reported.

Crowds in the village danced and chanted "Long Live Bhutto" as she arrived in a bullet-proof jeep from Sukkur, where thousands of supporters had showered her with rose petals.

"Good Muslims will never attack a woman. I will reach out to my people everywhere in Pakistan," she said.

ANI