ISLAMABAD, Nov 5: A four-member delegation of Pakistan People’s Party led by Senior Vice Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim on Monday called on President Gen Pervez Musharraf and demanded safe return of party’s Chairperson Benazir Bhutto.

“The party demanded immediate steps for her safe return without fear of political persecution and vendetta,” a party announcement said after the meeting. The government and PPP central secretariat issued separate statements on the hour-long meeting of the President with the PPP leaders, in which former senator Qaim Ali Shah, Punjab PPP Chief Qasim Zia and PPP Frontier Chief Khawaja Muhammad Khan Hoti were also included.

The government and the PPP statements had very little in common. The latter focused on the demands made by it at the meeting while the former highlighted President’s assertions.

However, an inside party source said there was a strong view in the party that it should not go to the extent that it would be seen as an ally of the military government.

“There was convergence of views between the party and government over the issue of supporting international coalition in its fight against terrorism,” the source said.

However, the source said, a sizable number of PPP leaders wanted that the party should preserve and maintain its distinction of opposing non-democratic regimes.

A PPP source termed the meeting with the President positive, saying it was held in a very cordial atmosphere. The President seemed quite receptive towards the demands made by the party leaders, the source asserted.

He was quite optimistic about the release of some of the PPP leaders languishing in jails on charges of corruption. The party was expecting release of Hakim Ali Zardari and Naveed Qamar shortly.

On the issue of Ms Bhutto’s return to the country, nothing was officially said from both sides.

The party claimed that it also sought an end to what it termed one-sided accountability solely directed against the political leadership of the country, stressing that the ongoing accountability was politically-motivated.

It also demanded release of former senator Asif Ali Zardari, Vice Chairman Yousaf Raza Gillani, Secretary-General Jehangir Badr, former chairman of privatization commission Naveed Qamar and all other PPP leaders detained on politically-motivated charges and also the withdrawal of the politically-motivated cases.

President’s spokesman Gen Rashid Qureshi quoted the President as saying that it was essential for all Pakistanis, irrespective of their political and party affiliations, to rise to the occasion and play a positive role for safeguarding national integrity, unity and solidarity at this critical juncture in the history of the country.

He said during the meeting with political leaders, the President exchanged views on a number of issues of national importance as well as the prevailing situation in the region with special reference to Afghanistan.

He said all the decisions and necessary steps taken by the government were in the supreme national interest. The president, he said, apprised them of his meetings and telephonic conversations with various world leaders including those of the Muslim Ummah.

The President also reaffirmed his commitment of holding elections in Oct 2002 as directed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The PPP statement said the delegation stressed upon the President that a solution to the country’s problems could not be provided by a military regime and that a return to democracy and rule by the elected representatives of the people was of paramount importance to meet the myriad challenges of security and economic well-being of the people.

The PPP leaders said that the party had noted the assurances of the military regime that the elections would be fair, free and impartial. In this connection, the PPP sought some steps to be taken by the government to substantiate its declaration. The steps were: first, the minorities should be allowed the right to vote in every single electoral precinct through joint electorate; two, multi-identity should be introduced; three, the decentralized district returning electoral count system should be adhered to; and four, there should be a mechanism acceptable to political parties for the transfer of officials, against whom charges of election interference have been made.

The PPP also demanded that economic relief be provided to the common citizen, including the reversal of the plan to remove assistant commissioners recruited in Sindh during 1988-90 and 1993-96.

The party leaders said the party was against terrorism in any form and voiced support for the objective of a broad-based government in Afghanistan.

They called upon President Musharraf to open a dialogue with political parties to broaden the political base of the country at a time of grave national and international crisis.