Word: wali
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Another violent showdown may be near. Last week National Awami Leader Khan Abdul Wali Khan demanded that Bhutto reinstate the governors. "We will take these rights by force if they are not conceded by will," he told a huge angry crowd in Peshawar. Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, the ousted Baluchistan governor, called on the National Assembly to halt the military's interference: "I would like to inform the public that the army action will destroy the unity of what remains of Pakistan forever," he said. Even Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party was divided. The P.P.P. governor...
...Pakistan's headstrong President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto has learned a few lessons in the art of compromise. Last week he headed off a crisis that could have led to further fragmentation of his country. In an important concession to his chief rival, Pathan Community Leader Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Bhutto announced that he would restore Pakistan to democratic government next August. "The curse of martial law will be buried forever, God willing," he pledged in a radio address...
Earlier in the week, a smiling Bhutto had bounded into the restaurant of the Intercontinental Hotel in Rawalpindi to welcome Wali Khan to the city. After three days of talks, the two men reached an agreement that will ease the strain-at least temporarily-on the tenuous unity of Pakistan's four remaining provinces, including Wali's strongholds of Baluchistan and Northwest Frontier...
...agreement, martial law will end on Aug. 14, the 25th anniversary of Pakistan's independence. On that day, the National Assembly that was elected in December 1970-minus, of course, its 169 East Bengali members-will be convened in Islamabad to draft a permanent constitution. In the meantime, Wali Khan's pro-Soviet National Awami Party will form governments in Baluchistan and Northwest Frontier. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, which has a 96-seat majority in the 145-member Assembly, will run the other two provinces, Punjab and Sind, as well as the central government...
Pakistan's internal troubles, however, are far from settled. One sticky but potentially divisive issue is the kind of constitution that the Assembly decides to adopt. Bhutto is believed to favor a strong presidential system, with himself as the powerful chief executive. Wali and other opposition leaders want a parliamentary system that will give them a larger voice. But for the moment, Bhutto's prudent retreat on martial law is an encouraging sign for Pakistan's future...