The two-time former premier vowed to press ahead with her “long march” from Lahore to Islamabad on Tuesday in protest against the emergency despite stern warnings from the government that the rally would be stopped.
“We are saying no to any more talks. It is a change from my past policy,” Bhutto told reporters in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province.
“We cannot work with anyone who has suspended the Constitution, imposed emergency rule and oppressed the judiciary. That’s why we are holding the long march,” she said.
The Punjab government has banned all public rallies, including the long march, and said it would strictly implement the order. On Friday, Bhutto was detained in her home in Islamabad to prevent her from leading a rally in nearby Rawalpindi.
Meanwhile, Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a close aide of Musharraf, said there is no possibility of Bhutto being given a third prime ministerial term.
He also ruled out the possibility of article 58(2b) of the Constitution — which gives the president the power to dismiss the prime minister and to dissolve parliament being abrogated as demanded by Bhutto.
‘Bhutto most corrupt’
“I can see anybody as prime minister but not Benazir Bhutto,” Ahmed told a press conference.
Describing Bhutto as the “most corrupt, dishonest, sluggish and extravagant” politician in Pakistan, Ahmed said “every contact has ended” between the ruling PML-Q and Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party.
Bhutto said that though Musharraf has accepted the PPP’s demand for holding the election in January as scheduled, he has not delivered on other pledges.
Stating that fair and transparent polls are not possible in a state of emergency, she said: “It is very difficult for us to participate in the elections with our hands tied. It is difficult for us to participate in polls without a level playing field.”
She also demanded the lifting of the emergency and the reinstatement of deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
“The decision to impose an emergency and not to quit his military uniform has led to a breakdown of talks between us and the Musharraf regime,” Bhutto said.
