Addresses Pakistani community in Houston:
Ms Bhutto says she could deal with terrorism without Uniform
Houston - October 17, 2004

"As a former Prime Minister, I can say with confidence that I could deal with the issues of terrorism as President of Pakistan without having to demand being made Chief of Army Staff too".

The former Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said this while addressing an Iftar party held by the Pakistani community in Houston, USA on Saturday.

She is currently visiting USA, to address select gatherings and meet Pakistani community.

Pleading for free elections she said, "A strong, stable Pakistan is dependent on freedom which means free elections, free judiciary, free press and free political activities."

She said that the issues of poverty were neglected in Pakistan as the country is gripped in a power struggle between the forces of dictatorship and the forces of democracy and added that democracy and development go hand in hand.

She said that the dismissal of her government was brought about by the shenanigans of the establishment and since then the country drifted into a nightmare of military dictatorship, terrorism, violence, suicide bombers and economic stagnancy.

The former Prime Minister denounced terrorism saying that it was the enemy of all humanity as it terrorised society as a whole.

Recalling the days when the terrorists held Karachi hostage she said that the PPP government was able to end the insurgency because of the support of the people of Karachi.

"The forces of sectarianism, violence, ethnicity, terrorism, Klashnikov culture and drug trade proliferated when Pakistan was under a dictatorial system".

She said that the Patriot Act has led to racial profiling and many Pakistanis feel that they are now suspected by virtue of being Pakistani. This can change if the people of Pakistan can take their destiny into their own hands, she said.

The former Prime Minister said that the constitution forbids Army Chief from indulging in politics and quoted various article from the constitutions.

The President enters into office after an election under Article 41 (3). The electoral process is a political process, which the COAS cannot engage in, she said.

The President may summon and prorogue either House of Parliament may address the Houses and may send messages to either House to be taken into consideration (Article 56). The Constitution forbids the COAS from
advising Parliament or the nation.

Under the 17th amendment, the President decides who to make Prime Minister in his discretion calling a member whom he thinks has the majority to form the government. The army chief cannot constitutionally do this.

The President can dissolve the National Assembly under Article 58 (2) (b) as well as approve the dissolution of Provincial Assembly under Article 112 (2). A COAS doing so would be in breach of his Constitutional oath and of the Constitution itself, she said.

Under Article 48 (6) the President can order a referendum overreaching Parliament and going directly to the people but an army chief cannot take such a step. Under Article 101 the President appoints the Governors of Provinces but the army chief cannot do that. Thus the powers of the president if exercised by the army chief amounts to martial law and puts paid to the whole idea that Pakistan is moving towards a democratic dispensation, she said.

She said that there is also the issue of a pledge. "A pledge, or a promise, and one made to Parliament, should hold sanctity". Mr. Musharaf promised the people and the international community that he would take off his uniform. The failure to do so could be misinterpreted by the many different international players that Pakistan has to deal with, she
said.

About corruption the former Prime Minister said that corruption is rampant in Pakistan under military rule and the NAB is being used as a political arm by the regime. NAB has spent billions on investigating corruption charges relating to 1993, more than a decade ago--and it hasn't come up with one conviction against a political leader, she said and added that at the same time the NAB refuses to investigate the corruption of the last eight years.

Unfortunately, NAB is a tool of the powerful intelligence agencies to re-engineer Pakistan's political picture, she said.

Commending the Pakistani community in the USA saying that it was due to the efforts of the Pak community that the Pakistan specific Pressler Amendment was removed. Secific laws are unjust laws, she said and added that she faced many Benazir specific laws that failed to harm her standing as the October elections showed.

Emphasising the need of good relations with India, she said that both countries need to signal the world community that they are competent to deal with outstanding issues and that South Asia can stop the slide towards becoming one of the most dangerous places in the world.

Cognizant of the fact of a bitter dispute over Kashmir, and the huge amount of blood shed--eighty thousand Kashmiris, 3000 Pakistani soldiers during Kargil and unknown number of Indian troops--the PPP believes that confidence building steps with New Delhi are necessary, she said.

In particular PPP welcomes the first visit by Pakistani journalists to Kashmir, which took place this October. "Such steps might appear small but each incremental step forward was a small ray of hope out of the tunnel of darkness in which so many Kashmiris, as well as Pakistanis and Indians, had lost their lives".

The Party Chairperson also recounted the achievements of the PPP government in attracting investments, creating jobs, doubling the revenues and spending on social uplift.

PPP tripled the growth rate while growth rate now has stagnated and forty per cent of the people of Pakistan live on less than one dollar a day, she said. "This is why we are calling for Pakistan to make a plan to return to Democracy. And democracy needs your support".

Pakistan Peoples Party is fighting for a Federal, democratic, egalitarian Pakistan where people could progress and prosper and where the youth were free from unemployment, hunger and malnutrition and worse, hopelessness and frustration. She said that the Quaid e Awam gave people of Pakistan dignity, self-respect and honour, "values that no one could steal from the people".