Defiant Bhutto vows to stay in power
Defiant Bhutto vows to stay in power
By Alistair Lyon
ISLAMABAD (Reuter): Pakistan's beleaguered Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto has vowed to stay in power in the teeth of
mounting criticism of her three-year-old administration.
In a defiant speech to parliament on Sunday, Bhutto, 43,
rounded on opposition parties and journalists who have accused
her of leading a corrupt, inept government now doomed to fall.
"They are writing that the president is not happy, the army is
not happy, the IMF is not happy," she thundered. "Has this been
written in our constitution that if these powers are not happy
the government should go home?"
Bhutto, who won parliamentary elections in October 1993, said
her mandate was from the people, not from other powers, and
pledged to complete her five-year term.
She said that any bid to dislodge her now would dishonor
Pakistan and invite unfavorable comparisons with arch-rival
India's democracy in the two countries' 50th anniversary year.
"What message do they want to send to the world?" she asked,
vowing to foil those bent on unseating her Pakistan People's
Party. "We will celebrate our Golden Jubilee in a befitting way
so that none can question the prestige of Pakistan."
Bhutto's grip on power has looked fragile in recent months
amid a chorus of voices urging her to curb corruption, revive an
ailing economy and stop antagonizing the judiciary -- or resign.
She suffered a cruel personal blow last month when Karachi
police killed her estranged brother and political foe Murtaza in
circumstances that are now the subject of a judicial inquiry.
President Farooq Leghari, once regarded as a loyal Bhutto
ally, upset the prime minister the day after Murtaza's killing by
asking the Supreme Court to rule on whether he was obliged to
take her advice when appointing senior judges.
A few days later, the president issued an unusual message to
parliament, urging the government and opposition to cooperate in
forming parliamentary committees to probe official corruption.
Opposition allegations of corruption and influence-peddling
have focused on Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari, who was named
investment minister in a cabinet expansion in July.
Presenting an anti-corruption bill to parliament on Sunday,
Bhutto said she and Zardari should be first in line for scrutiny
so that no-one else could complain of discrimination.
Bhutto has also been beset by economic troubles that have
forced her to agree to stringent cost-cutting and revenue
measures at the behest of the International Monetary Fund.
The government is expected to announce a "mini-budget" before
the arrival of an IMF mission on Thursday. The IMF will disburse
no more money from a $600 million standby loan until a
"comprehensive and credible" package is in place.
Army generals, who have often played kingmaking role in
Pakistani politics in the past, have given no public sign of
displeasure with Bhutto's performance, but some analysts trace
Leghari's new-found assertiveness to military prompting.
Against this grim backdrop, some commentators have advised
Bhutto to go of her own accord while she still has the choice.
"If she does not opt for a democratic, smooth, face-saving and
politically beneficial exit now, the manner in which she may be
forced out could be disastrous in political and possibly in
physical terms for her and her family," Shaheen Sehbai, the
Washington correspondent of Dawn newspaper, wrote recently.
Bhutto's response has been to dig deep into her sense of
destiny as the scion of Pakistan's most powerful, but ill-fated,
political dynasty and come up defying unnamed "conspirators".
"They might have thought that Benazir Bhutto would run away or
be frightened at Murtaza's murder. But I will not do this.
I preferred jails to palaces and my blood is running in this
land. They're now targeting me, my spouse and my children to
dishearten me. But I fear nothing because I am linked to the
people," she told parliament.