Musharraf regime will try to rig polls: Asif Zardari
Interview to Indian Newspaper Tribune January 22, 2008
Washington Times January 16, 2008

IN a freewheeling interview with The Tribune's Washington correspondent Ashish Kumar Sen, Asif Ali Zardari, the new co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party discusses the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto, his concerns about Pakistan's ability to hold free elections, and his plans for the PPP.

Excerpts:

Q: You have refused to allow investigating authorities to exhume Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto's body. How can the controversy surrounding her death be laid to rest without this being done?

A: How can we trust the regime to handle this investigation? All of us know that Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. The doctors who first tried to revive her had clearly stated that they saw bullet wounds, entry and exit. The doctors were then threatened and hushed up. The authorities have all along been trying to cover up and changed their versions.

In medico-legal cases it is the responsibility of the government to carry out a postmortem. I came from Dubai six hours after the event when the body had already been sealed in the casket. Within no time the crime scene was hosed down. Three different versions of her death were given in three days by the highest officials in the country.

Most Pakistanis believe that elements within the government machinery, in cahoots with the intelligence agencies, were directly responsible for this attack. So under such circumstances, how can we expect Pakistani authorities to conduct a fair and honest investigation, even after exhuming the body? What good would be done by desecrating the last remains of my wife when the entire investigation is being controlled and manipulated by the regime and a massive cover up is quite obvious?

The question of exhumation of the body is a diversion from the real issue. Why were the doctors' statements not formally recorded and their findings altered, if there was even the slightest doubt about the cause of death? There was no doubt whatsoever, which is why the police also did not seek an autopsy and the doctors and police officers are being pressured to keep quiet or change their statements.

This is why we are asking for a U.N. investigation into the assassination. Had the regime investigated the October 18th massacre that targeted Mohtarma Benazir, she may be alive today. Instead of hunting down the assailants, the regime covered up that probe as well, providing impunity to terrorists that struck the first night she landed in Pakistan.

Q: The Bush Administration continues to see President Musharraf as a steadfast ally. Are you concerned that this relationship may undermine the growth of democracy in Pakistan?

A: Yes. As long as even remnants of the dictatorship receive international support, democracy in Pakistan will be undermined. Since 9/11, Pakistan has received over $10 billion in overt and covert assistance. No one knows how it has been spent. Many think that this assistance has propped up the dictatorship rather than the people of the country.

Musharraf rigged the 2002 elections, but the international community seems to acquiesce it. The regime has harassed political opponents, removed and detained Supreme Court judges and lawyers; changed the constitution to suit one man; imposed emergency; and curbed media freedom. Hundreds of ordinary citizens have disappeared under the garb of "war on terror".

Q: Musharraf has accused Bhutto of shifting the goal posts. What did she think of him?

A: Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto rightly thought of Musharraf as untrustworthy and that view of him is shared by millions of Pakistanis and people all over the world. Over the years, the regime offered several "packages" wanting her stay out of the country and politics, which she refused.

Shaheed Mohtarma Bhutto wanted a transition to democracy and she was promised it. Musharraf did not want a transition to democracy. He declared virtual Martial Law. It eroded the basis of talks and negotiations.

The regime is wrong in asserting that Mohtarma Bhutto shifted the goal posts. As a matter of fact Musharraf went back on his word. He has been running with the hare and hunting with the hound. And I think Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto's assassination is the ultimate in deception.

Q: Are you confident that the elections of Feb. 18 will be free and fair?

A: In the current state the elections cannot be free and fair. Indeed, international bodies like the International Crisis Group (ICG) have already catalogued how the dice has been loaded against the democratic parties, particularly the Pakistan People's Party.

Pre-poll rigging began several months ago. Shaheed Mohtarma Bhutto planned to give a consolidated report of complaints of rigging from across the country to the two US Congressmen later on the day she was martyred. The report shows how far the Musharraf regime has gone and is planning to go to rig the election. The electoral rolls are flawed. The Election Commission is far from independent. The media and judiciary are not free. The district governments and intelligence agencies are openly engaged in electoral fraud and then there are the plans for Election Day. For example:

Where an opposing candidate is strong in an area, they have planned to create a conflict at the polling station, even killing people if necessary, to stop polls for at least 3-4 hours. The polling stations will be granted extended opening of thirty minutes which will not be made up for the time lost.

Ninety percent of the equipment that the USA gave the government of Pakistan to fight terrorism is being used to monitor and to keep a check on their political opponents especially the PPP.

The regime has asked government sponsored candidates to give names of their security guards and local thugs to enroll into the police for three days on election duty. These also include ex-Army personnel. They will be used to fire at voter's stations and drive voters away so that ballots can be stuffed.

Where they collect and secure the ballot box at the end of the polling day, the place will be broken into and ballots will be not be stolen but thrown on the floor so they will have solid basis to call for a recount during which process they will add the votes for their candidates.

A new wave of arrests of PPP activists have begun. Over 1200 PPP members have been arrested since Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto's martyrdom, some of who include many possible witnesses of the assassination at the site of the PPP rally. Several thousands more have been implicated in false cases with the threat of arrest hanging over their heads.

So unless the international community forcefully engages and makes it clear that there will be a price paid for rigged elections, the regime will go ahead with rigging the polls, if indeed they are held on the announced date.

Q: The US had worked behind the scenes to try and cobble a power -sharing agreement between Ms. Bhutto and Musharraf. Would the PPP consider such power-sharing should the need arise?

A: Musharraf has shown that he does not respect the constitution and considers his own word above that of the law. Coalitions and power sharing are concepts under normal politics and constitutional rule. We are open to all options to ensure restoration of democracy but we will not become part of any excuse to maintain dictatorship.

Q: Is the PPP open to the idea of sharing power with Nawaz Sharif's party under similar circumstances?

Zardari: The PPP and Mr. Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) are signatories to the Charter for Democracy. We have been allies in the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD). We have a common cause in opposing the dictatorship. All questions about sharing power are premature.

Q: If the PPP comes to power would it seek to impeach Musharraf?

A: The PPP has just lost its leader. I have just lost my wife. My children have lost their mother. Our party is facing massive repression and threats to our security. Pakistanis are engaged in a struggle for the restoration of democracy. I think these are the realities we face. This question is hypothetical. For now, we are focused on the elections.

Q: Some critics have voiced concern that the leadership of the PPP is being handed down like a "family heirloom." How do you react to this?

A: Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto let her wishes about the party leadership be known in her will. The decision to elect me and our son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as co-Chairmen of the PPP was made by the party's Central Executive Committee. Even if it was in accordance with the late leader's will, it is wrong to say this is the transfer of a family heirloom or anything like that. The Party leadership felt that in the current chaotic condition in the country and in the Party, I could effectively hold the Party together and lead them into elections. It was the party's decision, which was fully backed by the rank and file. The party surely has a right to choose its own leadership. This is not the same as passing down leadership like furniture. The chair we now occupy is a bloody one. It is not one that everyone wants.

Q: Does the PPP intend to field Amin Fahim as its prime ministerial candidate?

A: Mr. Fahim is one of the most experienced and respected members of the Party. The issue of the Prime Minister will be decided only after elections in the light of our strength in the Parliament. It is pre-mature to talk of the Prime Minister even as elections have not been held and we do not know which Party gets how many parliamentary seats.

Q: You have been a controversial figure in the past. Do you believe you can unite the PPP?

A: Pakistanis know their history and they know who was made controversial for what reason and by whom. The PPP stands united. I hope to keep things that way.

As for the controversy, I have spent eleven years in prison, three years on one occasion and eight and a half years on another, without ever being convicted of any crime. This was the price I had to pay for being the spouse of the Pakistan's symbol of democracy and I paid it willingly because I shared my wife's commitment.

The forces of dictatorship have done everything possible to stay in power; including slander against anyone that opposes them.

As for how the allegations and accusations are hurled against opponents for political reasons I would like to remind that even the Chief Justice was accused of corruption and unceremoniously thrown out when the regime found him inconvenient. He was reinstated under public pressure only to be sacked again through imposition of martial law and emergency.

Fortunately the people of Pakistan and the Party members are not easily misled. The support for the PPP's new leadership has been phenomenal.