DATE=3/31/2002

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-288180

TITLE= PAK / POLITICS (L-O)

BYLINE=AYAZ GUL

DATELINE=ISLAMABAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Pakistan's military leader President Pervez Musharraf is reported to be planning to hold a national referendum that would allow him to stay in power for at least another five years if it is approved. From Islamabad, Ayaz Gul reports.

TEXT: President Musharraf discussed the referendum with editors of

leading Pakistani newspapers on Saturday. He is quoted (Sunday) as saying he will announce the move within a week and the referendum will go ahead in early May.

General Musharraf took power in a bloodless coup against the elected

government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in October 1999. He has suspended the constitution and has declared himself president of Pakistan, while promising to hold elections in October.

All of Pakistan's major political parties have opposed a referendum. General Musharraf is quoted as saying he needs more time to "consolidate his political and economic reforms".

Pakistan's now suspended constitution gives parliament the authority to

elect the president as well as the Prime Minister. That is why President

Musharraf's referendum move has come under fire from major political

parties and constitutional experts.

Ehsan Iqbal is a spokesman for the ousted Prime Minsiter Sharif's political

party (Pakistan Muslim League).

//IQBAL ACT//

There is a way, which is prescribed in the constitution, and that is that

parliament and the four provincial assemblies, they serve as an electoral

college to elect a president. So if there is any attempt to elect a

president through referendum, that is extra-constitutional and

undemocratic. We oppose it and we think that through this they (the

government) want to then influence the upcoming elections.

//END ACT//

The political party (Pakistan People's Party) of Pakistan's former Prime

Minister Benazir Bhutto, has also condemned the referendum as an "unconstitutional move."

Legal experts like, Akram Sheik, say that Pakistan's constitution allows for

referendums on vital national issues, but not for presidential elections.

//SHEIKH ACT//

I think it would be an excise in futility. They have (the government)

announced elections and after the election are complete then General

Musharraf can put himself as a candidate for president. I don't think

that it would be worthwhile or confer any legitimacy on President Musharraf

by seeking a referendum opinion from people of Pakistan.

//END ACT//

Pakistan has been under military rule for nearly half of the time since its creation in 1947. The country's last dictator General Zia-ul Haq, held a referendum in 1984 to extend his hold on power. He died in an unexplained plane crash four years later.

President Musharraf's seizure of power was condemned by U-S and Western democratic leaders. But since the September 11th attacks in the United States, General Musharraf has become one of Washington's critical allies in the war on terrorism and criticism of his rule has disappeared.

//REST OPT//

In his Saturday's meeting with leading Pakistani journalists, President

Musharraf also repeated that former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and

Nawaz Sharif cannot run in future elections.

Mr. Sharif's party spokesman Iqbal condemns the statement, saying that by

barring the two leaders, the general is trying to rig the elections even

before they are held.

//IQBAL ACT//

If we are saying that my opponents will not be allowed to contest elections

and I am the president for next five years, that means we are trying to

stage some kind of the Robert Mugabe's style democracy in Pakistan. It is

not in the interest of the country. He should allow all national political

parties and national political leaders, including Nawaz Sharif and Benazir

Bhutto to contest elections, and let people decide their fate, let people

decide their future. That is the spirit of democracy.

//END ACT//

Ms. Bhutto lives in self-exile but has been talking about returning home to her

country to take part in elections. She faces corruption charges in Pakistan.

Ousted Prime Minister Sharif has been exiled to Saudi Arabia after he

struck a deal to commute a 21-year jail sentence for hijacking and

corruption in exchange for political silence. (SIGNED)

NEB/AG/KBK