Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto said today Pakistani opposition supporters will begin a long march from Lahore on November 13th unless President Pervez Musharraf quits the army.
Ms Bhutto threw down the gauntlet to army chief Gen Musharraf after consulting other opposition leaders over strategy to make him abandon emergency rule, which he invoked last Saturday.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
"If demands are not met by November 9th, we'll start a long march from Lahore on November 13th and then we will stage a sit-in in Islamabad," Ms Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the largest opposition party, told reporters.
"President Musharraf should honour his commitment before the Supreme Court and the promise he made to the Pakistan People's Party during talks that he'll take off his uniform by November 15th," Ms Bhutto said.
"Before November 15th, the Pakistan election commission should announce an election schedule and judges, lawyers and political activists should be released," she added.
Hundreds of thousands of supporters welcomed Ms Bhutto when she returned to Karachi on October 18th, ending more than eight years of self-imposed exile.
But the cheerful homecoming was short-lived. A suicide bomb attack next to her motorcade killed at least 139 people.
Gen Musharraf had granted Ms Bhutto protection from prosecution for old corruption charges she has always maintained were politically motivated. There was speculation that the two might end up sharing power after elections, that were expected by January, until the president sprang emergency rule on the country.
Other opposition parties said Ms Bhutto should never have negotiated with a military leader, but she said her intention was to ensure the country was guided back towards democracy, with free and fair elections.
Announcing the emergency and suspension of the constitution at the weekend, Gen Musharraf had pleaded that he was being hampered by the judiciary while trying to guide Pakistan towards civilian-led democracy and fighting rising militancy.
"We can't work for dictatorship. We can work for democracy. General Musharraf can open the door for negotiations only if he revives the constitution, retires as chief of army staff and sticks to the schedule of holding elections," she said.