LARKANA, April 4: Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto has opposed re-election of the president by the present assemblies and said her party will go to the court if such an attempt is made.

In a telephonic address to a gathering held in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh to mark the 28th death anniversary of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on Wednesday night, she said the “suspension” of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was an important issue because the Supreme Court had to decide whether a man in army uniform could be re-elected president by the present assemblies. The apex court was also to decide whether two former prime ministers could run for another term, she added.

Ms Bhutto demanded reinstatement of the chief justice to avoid the “deepening of the judicial crisis”.

“We stand for a free parliament, free judiciary and a free press,” she said.

She criticised violence by police against lawyers protesting against the “suspension” of the chief justice. She called March 9 a black day in Pakistan’s history.

The PPP chairperson said Simla Accord, 1973 Constitution, agriculture reforms, abolition of feudal system, development of nuclear power, Heavy Mechanical Complex, Taxila, Karachi Steel Mills, release of 9,000 prisoners of war held by India and recovery of 5,000 square miles of land from India were some of the achievements of the late Bhutto.

She also criticised what she called the directionless foreign policy. She praised the sacrifices rendered by PPP workers for democracy. She said there were good people in the army, who had sacrificed for the country, but a handful of generals had toppled democratic governments.

On the Balochistan situation, she said that nationalists in the province felt alienated. She said the crisis could be resolved by giving the people their due rights. She said that in 1988 when she was in power she had announced ‘general amnesty’ for Baloch leaders and released development funds for the province.

The PPP leader claimed that after selling out the PTCL at a throwaway price, the government was now preparing to sell the Pakistan State Oil and the Pakistan Steel Mills.

Earlier, Yousuf Raza Gillani, Makhdoom Shah Memood Qureshi, Jahangir Baddar, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, Ayaz Soomro and other party leaders spoke at the gathering.

PESHAWAR: Leaders and workers of the People’s Party Parliamentarians on Wednesday paid rich tribute to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who according to them, challenged the suppressive feudal and tribal forces by initiating reforms in socio-economic and political fields and paved the way for a progressive and liberal society in Pakistan.

The PPP leaders were speaking at a workers’ meeting held at the residence of a former party MNA in Pabbi, some 18km from here, to pay tributes to Z.A. Bhutto, who was hanged 28 years ago in a controversial murder case by the then military regime of Gen Ziaul Haq.