April 7, 2003	Monday	Safar 4, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, April 6: President General Pervez Musharraf will be formally apprised of the outcome of the MMA-PML-Q meetings on the issue of Legal Framework Order.

Official sources told Dawn that the outcome of the discussions held between the PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and the MMA leader, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, would be shared with the president here on Monday.

It is said that the purpose of these meetings is to avoid the repetition of slogans like “go Musharraf go” during the president’s address to the joint session of the parliament.

Those privy to the discussions told Dawn that out of the 29 amendments, which have been purportedly introduced in the Constitution through the LFO, the disagreement was mainly on four — election of the president as a consequence of referendum, his COAS post, 58(2)b, and National Security Council.

It is for the first time that the MMA and the PML-Q have discussed the extension in the retirement age of judges, as in the parleys before the formation of government, it was not an issue.

The government, sources said, was not keen to stick to the extension as it was being increasingly opposed.

It is learnt that government is open to discussion on the NSC, and 58(2)B, but differences persist on the time-table for the president’s removal of the military uniform.

The sources said that the government had hinted that the president needed “substantial period” before retiring as COAS.

The government, sources said, had hinted that the president, if assured of opposition’s support for electing him president, he might give some indication of the year when he would lay down the uniform.

Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf had extended the tenure of General Pervez Musharraf until further orders.

As regards 58(2)B, the MMA wants that the president be content with the powers to dissolve the government and not the National Assembly. This proposal is opposed by the prime minister.

Even the NRB wanted the president to be able to dismiss the government, and not the assembly.

About the National Security Council, the sources said, government was ready to accept it as a body established by an act of parliament for a certain period, and not permanently.