ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Wednesday that the fate of a proposed power-sharing deal with Benazir Bhutto lay in her hands after the government offered the former premier an amnesty on graft charges.
Bhutto has said that any pact with President Pervez Musharraf, who is seeking re-election on Saturday, hinges on several demands including that corruption cases against her are dropped.
Ministers and officials said on Tuesday that the government had agreed to an amnesty which would smooth the path for the self-exiled Bhutto's planned return to Pakistan on October 18.
"The government is prepared for indemnity (for Bhutto) and the ball is now in the court of the opposition party," Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said, referring to Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party.
"We expect a positive response to the offer of indemnity."
Bhutto, who left Pakistan in 1999 to avoid what she says are politically motivated charges against her, is to chair a meeting of her party's central executive committee in London on Wednesday to discuss the offer.
Aides in London said that if her demands were not met the party would resign from parliament, following the lead of an opposition alliance that withdrew 85 MPs on Tuesday.
A party spokesman in Pakistan, Farhatullah Babar, said the leaders would "discuss the political situation and take decisions."
Pakistan's Deputy Information Minister, Tariq Azeem, said that matters relating to the amnesty, which would be confirmed by a presidential decree, are almost settled but "not yet finalised."
The decree would have to be issued on Wednesday because parliament is in session the following day and no presidential ordinances can be issued during that time, Azeem said.
