ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto announced yesterday that she would return from self-imposed exile on Oct. 18 to run in parliamentary elections that could make her prime minister for a third time.
The decision to return appears to have been made without her reaching a formal power-sharing agreement with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, party officials said. But in an indication that there was some understanding between her and the government, a presidential spokesman said there were no restrictions on her returning.
On Monday, another exiled former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who is a political rival of both Bhutto and Musharraf, was threatened with jail on corruption charges and then deported within hours of his landing in Pakistan to attempt his own return to run in the elections.
Bhutto also faces a number of court cases for corruption and money laundering. She demanded in negotiations with Musharraf that the cases be withdrawn if she is to support his rule.
But not long after party officials announced the date of her return, Bhutto told Pakistan TV, “Our talks with General Musharraf are going nowhere, so we have decided to go ahead with our own plans.”
Musharraf is expected to announce the schedule for his own re-election in the next few days.
If he decides to run for another five-year term as president, he needs to file papers and be voted in by an electoral college of the national and provincial assemblies by mid-October. It appears that Bhutto, 54, will return just after the presidential vote as parliament is dissolved in preparation for general elections.
Officials of Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party announced her return at their party headquarters in Islamabad, which was decorated with banners and a vast poster of their leader, who at 35 became the first female prime minister of a Muslim country.
She has been living in London and Dubai with her children since her last government was dismissed in 1996 and corruption charges were filed against her.
Talks over a power-sharing deal between Bhutto and Musharraf have gone on for months, nudged by the United States and European countries. But the talks stalled 11 days ago.
