LAHORE, March 10: ARD President Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan says the office of president has been lying vacant since the ‘retirement’ of Mr Rafiq Tarar on Dec 31 last year and parliament should give a schedule for president’s election immediately after the chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate are chosen.

At a news conference at his residence, he said candidates for the top slot should qualify to become members of the National Assembly, as laid down in the Constitution.

Refusing to accept the result of last year’s referendum, the ARD chief said the Constitution had provided a separate procedure for the election of president.

The Nawabzada recalled that the Supreme Court had also held in a judgment that a decision on the election of president through referendum would be taken by the relevant forum at an appropriate time.

In response to a question, he said in its talks with the government the opposition would not change its point of view on matters like the election of president, the formation of National Security Council and president’s power to sack the assembly.

He did not agree with government’s assertion that the opposition had accepted the LFO by taking part in the electoral process under the very same law.

When a reporter questioned him the justification for calling upon the parliament to look into all controversial matters which had cropped up since the overthrow of the PML government in Oct 1999, despite the allegation that assemblies were the product of rigged elections, the senior leader said the opposition should be appreciated for its large-heartedness.