Bhutto Assails Delay in Prime Minister Choice

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —  Benazir Bhutto said today that President Ghulam Ishaq Khan’s delay in appointing a prime minister after last week’s elections is unconstitutional and subverting “the verdict of the people.”

“We cannot be denied the government,” Bhutto told a news conference a day after her meeting with the president to discuss the formation of the next government.

Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party gained the largest number of National Assembly seats in last Wednesday’s general elections but failed to secure an absolute majority. The government-backed Islamic Democratic Alliance gained the second-largest number of seats.

Under the constitution, the president is to appoint a prime minister from the party he believes can command a majority in the lower house of Parliament. Bhutto maintains that she has the support of enough independents and small parties to form a government, but the Islamic Alliance also is trying to form a coalition.

Bhutto, the 35-year-old daughter of hanged Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is bidding to become the first woman leader of a Muslim nation and the youngest prime minister of Pakistan, which has been under military rule for more than two-thirds of its 41-year history.

Ishaq Khan met for 2 1/2 hours with Bhutto Tuesday evening before holding two hours of talks with Islamic Democratic Alliance leader Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab province.

The president has also scheduled meetings with other political parties and groups in the newly elected Assembly to decide on the formation of the next government.

Bhutto said she told the president that she has the support of a majority of the Assembly and that he must legally appoint her prime minister immediately.

“We went through the numbers, and I showed him that there is no way the (government-backed party) could form a majority,” she said. “There is no question that the verdict of the people must be recognized if there is to be a democratic Pakistan.”

She said the president’s proposal to wait until the National Assembly convenes Dec. 5 before appointing the next head of government is unconstitutional because only the prime minister can legally summon the lower house of Parliament.

Bhutto said the delay is being used by “unscrupulous elements” to carry out a “policy of coercion and blackmail.”