Bhutto faces a slew of corruption charges and possibly arrest, but she has been in talks with President General Pervez Musharraf about the likelihood of sharing power after a general election due around the end of the year.
“Benazir Bhutto will be landing in Karachi on October 18,” Makhdoom Amin Faheem, vice chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, led by Bhutto, told a news conference.
Asked about possibility of her arrest, Faheem said: “We are ready to face any situation. We can handle any eventuality.”
Earlier this week, authorities bundled off another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, to Saudi Arabia hours after he landed at Islamabad airport following a seven-year exile.
But Sharif is the man Musharraf ousted eight years ago, whereas Bhutto is a potential ally.
Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem Khan said the government had not opposed return of Bhutto to the country.
“She was there because of self-exile, she could have come back any time.”
Faheem said on-off talks with Musharraf were again in limbo, but didn’t rule out chances of some understanding being reached.
“In democracy, the door for talks is never shut,” he said. “The ball is in their court.”
Musharraf and Bhutto have been trying for months to secure a pact that would help him get a second five-year presidential term and allow her to return without fear of prosecution.
A presidential election by the national and provincial assemblies is due sometime before October 15.
Musharraf has seen his authority eroded and popularity dwindle since his unsuccessful attempt to fire the country's chief justice in March. Analysts say he needs support from a mainstream party to retain the presidency — the trouble is he has marginalised both the PPP and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League faction.
While Musharraf and Bhutto share progressive, liberal leanings, and the United States appears to be encouraging moderate forces to coalesce, there are serious doubts about how long the two strong personalities could work together.
Bhutto’s first condition is that Musharraf should quit the army and become a civilian president, but she also wants the law amended so she can become prime minister for a third time.
In addition, having been sacked twice before in the 1990s, she wants some check on presidential powers to fire a prime minister.