Bhutto and Sharif Draw Up Wish List

Pakistan's two main opposition parties today began to draw up a list of demands that President Pervez Musharraf must meet to ensure free and fair elections.

The former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, who met yesterday in Islamabad, have threatened to boycott the January 8 vote unless their demands are met.

A full opposition boycott would rob the vote of credibility and deepen the isolation of Musharraf as he struggles with popular discontent and the rising threat from militants on the border with Afghanistan.

Bhutto has said her party would reluctantly take part in the vote, while reserving the right to withdraw or to protest against an unfair result.

Sharif, who is barred from standing because of past convictions for corruption, has called for a boycott unless Musharraf reinstates the supreme court and other judges dismissed when he declared emergency rule last month.

Sharif and some smaller parties want the judges reinstated, while Bhutto's Pakistan People's party says the matter should be left to a new parliament. Musharraf has ruled out the return of the judges, some of whom remain under house arrest.

"We are already running short of time. We will try our best to finalize the demands, at the latest by tomorrow," said Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Sharif's party.

Sharif and Bhutto, who are old rivals, have both recently been allowed back into the country after years in exile. Musharraf, bowing to international and domestic pressure, stepped down as head of the army last week and was sworn in as a civilian president.

He has promised that emergency rule will be lifted on December 16, fulfilling two main demands of his rivals and of his western backers, including the US.

But the opposition says Musharraf must do more and has yet to announce their demands or the government's deadline for meeting them. One opposition worry is the neutrality of a caretaker government installed last month by Musharraf to oversee the election.

The caretaker prime minister, Mohammadmian Soomro, and many members of his cabinet belong to the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam), a grouping that was cobbled together from the remnants of Sharif's party as a political powerbase for Musharraf after his 1999 coup.

Bhutto said one of her main demands was an independent election commission to prevent vote rigging. However, the main sticking point between Bhutto and Sharif is the judges dismissed by Musharraf.

Analysts expect the two main opposition parties to take part in the poll after extracting maximum concessions.