Editor's Note: Former prime minister Bhutto was assassinated Dec. 27 as she was leaving a political rally. Bhutto sat down with Newsweek's Lally Weymouth for an interview on Dec. 12.
Two Months in Pakistan
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
|
When Benazir Bhutto returned from exile in October, she was disturbed by the growing strength of the Taliban and Islamic extremists inside Pakistan. Last week she sat down with Newsweek-The Post's Lally Weymouth in Islamabad. Excerpts:
Q: How do see your prospects in the upcoming election?
A: We all worried that the elections are going to be rigged in favor of the ruling party -- the military's party, the Muslim League. . . . There are 148 seats in the Punjab, the government has been told to give 108 seats [to] them. That means we'll only be fighting over 40 seats.
So [President Pervez] Musharraf's party will win the Punjab?
They won't win it. Hopefully we will make him lose it.
Do you think that's possible?
Well, observers are coming from the European Union [among others]. So I think if we can get observers to ensure that the ballots don't get siphoned off, it'll be a huge setback to their rigging plans. . . . They've [also] got ghost voting stations.
What does that mean?
They don't exist, or if they exist, nobody knows where they're placed. . . . We want the observers to go to the improvised polling stations and force the election commission to identify them.
The election commission is another issue, isn't it?
The chief election commissioner -- it's very difficult to get him to move. Mostly he justifies what happens . . . . For example, our candidate in Baluchistan was kidnapped and not allowed to file his nomination papers.
