FEATURE
FEATURES & ARTICLES
By: Khalid Hashmani
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto addressed a large gathering of "Think Tank" representatives, advisers to American policymakers, congressional staffers, and members of Pakistani-American community at the Capital Hill today (Tuesday, September 25). The largest hall in the Russell Senate Building was filled to capacity as more than 300 attendees crowded the hall, many standing at the back of the hall. Ms. Bhutto was greeted with standing ovations by many members of the Pakistani-American community at the beginning and at the end of her address.
The topic of the address was "The Political Situation in Pakistan" and almost all of the questions were on what she would do if her party was returned to power. The event was organized by The Middle East Institute (MEI). The session was moderated by for Former ambassador and the MEI President Wendy Chamberlin. The key points made by her were as follows:
1. The most important problem of Pakistan was terrorism and terrorists in Pakistan as it threatens Pakistan's security and well-being.
2. She said that the one way to resolve the issue is to address the concerns of poverty and non-representation in the FATA areas, where people do not have adequate education, health, and employment opportunities. There is no proper court system in those areas and there have a limited representation in the decision-making bodies. She held military regimes responsible for these conditions. She said that her father had achieved a remarkable progress in eliminating some of these inequities and she brought partial improvements during her government.
3. She said that founder of Pakistan had articulated the vision of Pakistan where every one regardless of their religious orientation, gender, or ethnicity will enjoy equal rights. She declared that Pakistan is not supposed to a religious country. In past, religious parties have gotten no more than 11% of vote. If the upcoming elections are fair and free, the religious parties will get even lesser vote.
4. She criticized the present government for trying to fire Chief justice and for creating a system that lacks "Rule of Law". She said that the current Election Commission is showing partiality as more than 30 million persons are missing from electoral rolls and the commission is making up rules that are contrary to the Pakistan's election laws.What we want is a fair playing level. She repeated the famous quote by Joseph that "Those who vote do not decide winners, but those who count the votes choose winners".
5. She said her approach would be to mobilize moderate middle of the population so that fringe on both the right and the left are not able to manipulate their way to take Pakistan to one or other extreme.
6. While discussing about the talks about the much talked about deal with Musharraf, she said that she entered into dialog with open eyes. She has three goals (a) have Musharraf and military to recognize supremacy of Parliament (b) holding of fair and free elections and (c) ensure that former Prime Ministers are able to contest elections. The negotiations with the present government is stalled now as the extremists in Musharraf's party do not want to see free and fair elections in Pakistan.
7. About her party's future plan, she said upcoming events will have a lot of bearing on PPP will do. If Musharraf does not follow Supreme Court decisions or try to contest elections while still remaining in uniform, then her party's members may resign from parliaments and/or boycott the upcoming election. She added that PPP will hold a meeting on October 3 in London, where future options will be discussed and appropriate decisions made. One thing that she is sure about is that she is returning to Pakistan on October 18 and that people will welcome her. However, she does not know what will happen after she leaves airport.. She added "I have faith in people and faith in God".
8. She said that poverty and corruption are two problems that she would like to tackle on a priority basis. She said that 60% of Pakistanis live under poverty line and that recent studies have shown that corruption is more prevalent under military regimes than under civilian governments.
9. She said, she and her husband were offered the same deal as Nawaz Sharif to agree to leave country and have a third-party guarantee their safety and non-participation in election. But, they chose not to accept that deal and her husband spent eight years in jail without any trial.
10. She said her assessment is that military too is now tired of running the government. They are under great of pressure as the "politics" has not been good for their professionalism and morale.
11. Replying to a question as to what US Congress should do to ensure free and fair elections, she answered that funding for a robust and large team of election observers, ensuring honest exit polls at many polling stations to discourage any manipulation in the vote counting.
12. In an answer to question about what actions she will take against Dr. Qadeer Khan, who is accused of selling Pakistan nuclear technology to other countries, Benazir said Dr. Qadeer Khan clearly violated Pakistani laws. She said as he could not have pulled such transactions alone, she will point a commission to investigate who else was involved and provide full accounting to International Atomic Commission.
In conclusion she said that the 2-3 things that she would like to do quickly are to improve the quality of life for common Pakistanis by achieving improvements in eduction, economics, employment and energy.
Khalid Hashmani
McLean, Virginia, USA
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto addressed a large gathering of "Think Tank" representatives, advisers to American policymakers, congressional staffers, and members of Pakistani-American community at the Capital Hill today (Tuesday, September 25). The largest hall in the Russell Senate Building was filled to capacity as more than 300 attendees crowded the hall, many standing at the back of the hall. Ms. Bhutto was greeted with standing ovations by many members of the Pakistani-American community at the beginning and at the end of her address.
The topic of the address was "The Political Situation in Pakistan" and almost all of the questions were on what she would do if her party was returned to power. The event was organized by The Middle East Institute (MEI). The session was moderated by for Former ambassador and the MEI President Wendy Chamberlin. The key points made by her were as follows:
1. The most important problem of Pakistan was terrorism and terrorists in Pakistan as it threatens Pakistan's security and well-being.
2. She said that the one way to resolve the issue is to address the concerns of poverty and non-representation in the FATA areas, where people do not have adequate education, health, and employment opportunities. There is no proper court system in those areas and there have a limited representation in the decision-making bodies. She held military regimes responsible for these conditions. She said that her father had achieved a remarkable progress in eliminating some of these inequities and she brought partial improvements during her government.
3. She said that founder of Pakistan had articulated the vision of Pakistan where every one regardless of their religious orientation, gender, or ethnicity will enjoy equal rights. She declared that Pakistan is not supposed to a religious country. In past, religious parties have gotten no more than 11% of vote. If the upcoming elections are fair and free, the religious parties will get even lesser vote.
4. She criticized the present government for trying to fire Chief justice and for creating a system that lacks "Rule of Law". She said that the current Election Commission is showing partiality as more than 30 million persons are missing from electoral rolls and the commission is making up rules that are contrary to the Pakistan's election laws.What we want is a fair playing level. She repeated the famous quote by Joseph that "Those who vote do not decide winners, but those who count the votes choose winners".
5. She said her approach would be to mobilize moderate middle of the population so that fringe on both the right and the left are not able to manipulate their way to take Pakistan to one or other extreme.
6. While discussing about the talks about the much talked about deal with Musharraf, she said that she entered into dialog with open eyes. She has three goals (a) have Musharraf and military to recognize supremacy of Parliament (b) holding of fair and free elections and (c) ensure that former Prime Ministers are able to contest elections. The negotiations with the present government is stalled now as the extremists in Musharraf's party do not want to see free and fair elections in Pakistan.
7. About her party's future plan, she said upcoming events will have a lot of bearing on PPP will do. If Musharraf does not follow Supreme Court decisions or try to contest elections while still remaining in uniform, then her party's members may resign from parliaments and/or boycott the upcoming election. She added that PPP will hold a meeting on October 3 in London, where future options will be discussed and appropriate decisions made. One thing that she is sure about is that she is returning to Pakistan on October 18 and that people will welcome her. However, she does not know what will happen after she leaves airport.. She added "I have faith in people and faith in God".
8. She said that poverty and corruption are two problems that she would like to tackle on a priority basis. She said that 60% of Pakistanis live under poverty line and that recent studies have shown that corruption is more prevalent under military regimes than under civilian governments.
9. She said, she and her husband were offered the same deal as Nawaz Sharif to agree to leave country and have a third-party guarantee their safety and non-participation in election. But, they chose not to accept that deal and her husband spent eight years in jail without any trial.
10. She said her assessment is that military too is now tired of running the government. They are under great of pressure as the "politics" has not been good for their professionalism and morale.
11. Replying to a question as to what US Congress should do to ensure free and fair elections, she answered that funding for a robust and large team of election observers, ensuring honest exit polls at many polling stations to discourage any manipulation in the vote counting.
12. In an answer to question about what actions she will take against Dr. Qadeer Khan, who is accused of selling Pakistan nuclear technology to other countries, Benazir said Dr. Qadeer Khan clearly violated Pakistani laws. She said as he could not have pulled such transactions alone, she will point a commission to investigate who else was involved and provide full accounting to International Atomic Commission.
In conclusion she said that the 2-3 things that she would like to do quickly are to improve the quality of life for common Pakistanis by achieving improvements in eduction, economics, employment and energy.
Khalid Hashmani
McLean, Virginia, USA