Pak opposition vows to defy ban on rallies

Pakistan's opposition vowed yesterday to defy a ban on rallies in the run-up to general elections, proposed in the wake of last week's suicide bombing on Benazir Bhutto's convoy that killed 139 people.
The government is drawing up a code of conduct for political campaigning during the polls set for January and seen as a key step to restoring civilian rule in the Islamic nation of 160 million people.
The code was flagged after the October 18 blasts ripped through former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's homecoming parade and shattered her planned triumphant return to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile.
Benazir Bhutto's party said the code was unacceptable amid fears embattled President Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, was trying to curtail campaigning for the polls.
"Rallies are part of the election process. We cannot sit idle during the election season," Pakistan People's Party (PPP) spokesman Nazir Dhoki said.
"Leaders have to contact the masses and that is necessary for candidates and parties," he told AFP.
Benazir Bhutto said on Sunday that she would have to "modify our campaign to some extent" but has pledged to remain in Pakistan to lead the PPP in the polls despite the bombings that targeted her mass procession in Karachi.
Large rallies and street marches would be banned under the code which would instead permit small, pre-arranged and well-secured meetings amid fears of further attacks by militants, deputy information minister Tariq Azeem said.
"Keeping in mind the security situation and the incident in Karachi it has become inevitable," Azeem told AFP.
"The proposal before the government is to allow small corner meetings at a specified place instead of large rallies lasting several hours and causing inconvenience to the public," he said.
Opposition parties would be consulted before the code was finalised and introduced by a government order, Azeem added.
But the party of former premier Nawaz Sharif -- the man whom Musharraf ousted and again deported when he tried to return on Pakistan in September -- also rejected the ban as "unfair and unacceptable."
"The government does not want political leaders to reach the voters. We will challenge such restrictions in the Supreme Court," said Raja Zafar ul-Haq, chairman of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League.
Sharif has pledged to make another attempt to come home in the next few weeks.
Musharraf, a key US ally in the fight against extremism, is under international pressure to hold free and fair polls amid a slump in popularity.
The general has faced months of political turmoil including a wave of Islamist violence unleashed when government troops stormed the al-Qaeda-linked Red Mosque in Islamabad in July.
Musharraf dropped corruption charges this month against Benazir Bhutto, the first female leader of an Islamic nation, clearing the way for her return home.
The amnesty was supposed to be a prelude to a power-sharing pact between the pair in the hope Benazir Bhutto's popularity could shore up Musharraf's grip on power ahead of the elections.
But the amnesty and Musharraf's victory in this month's presidential election are being challenged in the Supreme Court.
The ban on rallies was also rejected by the hardline Islamic alliance of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal.
"Musharraf is unpopular. There is a hatred against him, he cannot face the public -- therefore he wants controlled and managed elections," senior leader Liaquat Baloch told AFP.
"Political rallies and big meetings to establish contact with the masses is part of election culture in the subcontinent, and people will not accept such restrictions," he said.