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NEIGHBOURS: PAKISTAN

Reverse Swing

Even before Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistan prime minister, could savour the sweet taste of victory, it turned sour. Benazir had hoped for a political comeback and an early return home after the Supreme Court set aside a five-year jail sentence against her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and her for bribery and ordered a fresh trial. But soon after the verdict, the military regime moved quickly and announced that it was filing nine fresh cases of corruption involving $1.5 billion against her.

In a related development, the disgraced former Pakistan navy chief Admiral Mansur ul Haq who had fled to the United States was arrested and faces extradition. Admiral Haq was dismissed on corruption charges in 1999 and is alleged to have received kickbacks worth millions of dollars in the Agosta submarine deal with France. Zardari is also an accused in the bribery case.

To make matters worse, the British Government decided to hand over to Pakistan 22,000 documents containing the details of assets and bank accounts of Benazir and her husband. General Khalid Maqbool, the chief of the National Accountability Bureau set up by the military regime, has warned that the former prime minister will be arrested on her return. Although Benazir, who has been living in self-imposed exile in London, said the jail threat will not deter her from implementing her plans, her own partymen concede that the latest development may create serious problems for her.

For General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's self-styled chief executive, the Supreme Court ruling exonerating Benazir had come as a serious setback to his political plans. In a recent interview he had vowed to keep Benazir and Nawaz Sharif out of politics, saying there was no place for the former prime ministers who plundered the nation. Sharif, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on terrorism charges, was sent to exile in Saudi Arabia last December.

Benazir had hoped to reassert herself. Her Pakistan People's Party has achieved a significant victory in the local government elections, sweeping a majority of seats in her home province, Sindh, and the eastern province of Punjab. Her legal position was strengthened last month after the disclosure of a taped conversation between Justice Abdul Qayyum, the judge of the special anti-corruption court that had convicted her, and Saifur Rehman, chief of Sharif's accountability cell. The 32 sensational tapes revealed that the judge was forced to convict Benazir. "Now tell me what punishment do you want me to give them," Justice Qayyum was heard asking Rehman in one of the taped conversations. "Give them maximum punishment," replied Rehman. Rehman was arrested by the military regime recently and is facing trial on various corruption charges.

The tape scandal had jolted the country's judiciary and rendered Benazir's trial controversial. Some of her supporters now want her to wait until August, when the last phase of the local government polls will be completed, before returning. According to them it will give the party enough time to mobilise public support.

Musharraf appears determined to prevent a quick political comeback for Benazir as it would put a major spanner in his own plans to remain at the helm of affairs. He has already declared that he is not going to retire from the army when his tenure as chief of army staff expires in October and has clearly indicated that he intends to become the country's next president in August this year. The ruling military junta also plans to impose a new political system with a permanent political role for the military enshrined in the Constitution. In the coming months, Benazir may find the road to return even rougher.

-Zahid Hussain in Karachi

MetroScape

Wealth Of Art
April 8 saw an unabashed get together of Mumbai's Who's Who when the annual Harmony Show, well known as "Tina Ambani's baby", celebrated its sixth showing at the Nehru Centre.
more...

Looking Glass

Bangalore Hotel:
Park.hotel

Mumbai Store:
Regent Watch and Jewellery Boutique

A war of words is on at the Jammu border where India is trying to build a fence to stop infiltration, much to Pakistan's dislike, reports
INDIA TODAY's Special Correspondent Ramesh Vinayak in Despatches.