July 4, 2002	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 22,1423

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ISLAMABAD July 3: Mian Mohammad Azhar, president of the Pakistan Muslim League (QA), expressed on Wednesday his party’s reservations about the proposed constitutional amendments, specially about the one empowering the president to dismiss the assembly, but favoured certain constitutional role for army so that democracy was not derailed after every two to three years.

Earlier, the top brass of the party met, with Azhar in the chair, and deliberated on the proposed constitutional package.

However, the party clearly failed to agree on a unified stand on the constitutional package and instead limited itself to the appointment of a committee to prepare its recommendations.

In all, 38 central as well as provincial leaders from the four provinces attended the meeting.

Responding to a question, the PML (QA) president said, “We do want a balance of power between the president and the prime minister but have reservations about the composition of the NSC.”

When asked whether his party had no objection to five services chiefs sitting at the NSC with constitutional powers, he said, “We have no objection to that but we want expansion in its composition.”

To another question, he said, “We believe that military government’s attempt to amend the Constitution was within the Supreme Court’s mandate.”

Replying to a question about the chances of elections being postponed on the pretext of the standoff with India and the ongoing operations against Al Qaeda activists, he said, “I do not see any reason for the postponment of polls for these were a must.”

When his attention was drawn to the concentration of all powers in president’s office in the proposed constitutional amendments package, he said, “Let the elected parliament come into being to decide all contentious issues as it was the proper forum for deciding such complicated matters.”

Azhar, however, said the army held certain position which one had to accept and allow its advisory role in future as well.