ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Gen. Pervez Musharraf sought Tuesday to smooth the way for his re-election as Pakistan’s president, naming a successor as army chief and offering to drop corruption cases against former premier Benazir Bhutto – a potential ally against Islamic militants.
Bhutto’s party called the amnesty announcement “propaganda,” though it did not reject the offer. But die-hard opponents filed new legal challenges to Musharraf’s candidacy and resigned from parliament hoping to derail the key U.S. ally’s effort to extend his eight- year rule.
Under increasing criticism for serving simultaneously as president and army chief, Musharraf has promised to resign the military post if he wins a new five-year presidential term in a vote Saturday by federal and provincial lawmakers.
His government predicts an easy victory. But Pakistan is still deeply divided over Musharraf’s candidacy, with resentment over military rule growing since he made a botched attempt to fire the country’s top judge in March.
Musharraf’s reluctance to give up his military post without winning re-election indicates how crucial the control of the army remains in a country that has swung between military and civilian rule throughout its 60-year history and relied on foreign aid to power its economy.
The general has sought to boost his political base by holding talks on sharing power with Bhutto, who served twice as a democratically elected prime minister between 1988 and 1996 but saw her governments fall amid allegations of corruption and misrule.
Both are pro-U.S. and have called for moderates to unite against extremists who have stepped up attacks on government forces in recent months. Bhutto said Monday she would cooperate with the U.S. military in targeting al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who is believed hiding out along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Bhutto plans to return from London on Oct. 18, eight years after she went into self-imposed exile to escape prosecution on corruption charges, even though her negotiations with Musharraf have not produced a deal.
Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim told The Associated Press that Musharraf would issue an ordinance as early as today granting amnesty in corruption cases up to 1999 in which politicians had not been convicted, meeting one of Bhutto’s key demands in the talks.
Azim said the amnesty was aimed at easing political acrimony before parliamentary elections that must be held by January.
He indicated it would also apply to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose government was ousted in the 1999 coup that put Musharraf in power.
