Pakistan Views

PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto vowed to fight for workers’ rights on Wednesday as she took her campaign for January general elections to an industrial belt near the capital.

Western allies hope the election will restore stability in a nuclear-armed country vital to the battle against militancy. The three-way race pits Benazir Bhutto, against the party of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and a party that backs President Pervez Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup.

Many Pakistanis say they are disillusioned with all three leaders and their main concerns are high prices and unemployment.

Tapping into those worries, Benazir told a crowd of about 600 people in the town of Wah, 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Islamabad, she would help the poor.

“We believe that Pakistan can only be a strong state when labourers and poor people become strong and empowered,” she said.

“We assure you we will not leave labourers alone and we’ll not ignore them,” she said, promising to reinstate sacked workers and beef up labour laws.

Benazir was travelling up the Grand Trunk road that used to link Delhi with the Khyber Pass on the Afghan border, where Pakistani armaments, mechanical and textile factories are based.

Small groups of people beside the road waved PPP flags and threw rose petals at her convoy as she passed.