PESHAWAR, April 13: Federal Minister for Water and Power, Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, urged the opposition on Saturday to show flexibility and work out its differences with the government over the Legal Framework Order through dialogue and consultation.

Talking to newsmen at his residence, Mr Sherpao said that it was the government’s endeavour to strengthen democracy and the democratic institutions in the country.

He said that the government was making every effort to take the opposition along on all important issues. He however, regretted that the opposition parties had adopted a rigid stand on certain issues.

“They need to see the ground realities and be a bit flexible to achieve consensus”, he argued.

Mr Sherpao said that President Pervez Musharraf had transferred power in keeping with his commitment with the nation. “It is now our job to strengthen democracy”, he said.

He dispelled the impression that the army was still calling the shots and said that the federal government had all the executive powers to carry out and implement its policies.

As for the LFO, the federal minister warned that any attempt at undoing it would unravel the whole democratic process.

He pointed out that the parliament had come into existence in accordance with the provisions of LFO that included the increase in the number of seats, joint electorate, increase in women representation and lowering of voters age.

He conceded that the inclusion of controversial article 58(2)(B) and the setting up of National Security Council were the two most contentious issues but argued that these were safety valves aimed at safeguarding democracy and stop frequent military intervention.

He claimed that the National Security Council was in fact a check on the presidential powers.

He also scoffed at the opposition for demanding that the president should take off his military uniform. “Wearing a military uniform has nothing to do with the LFO”, he thought. He said it was important that the president continued to wear his military uniform for the continuation of reforms introduced by his government.

In an obvious allusion to the Jamaat-i-Islami, Mr Sherpao said that those who had been criticising the president had themselves joined the cabinet under the late military dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq. “They never objected to his wearing the military uniform while continuing to be the president of Pakistan”, he remarked.

Similarly, he said, former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the first civilian chief martial law administrator. He said that the constitution remained the 1973 Constitution irrespective of the amendments introduced into it under the LFO.

He said that the opposition was making an issue out of a non-issue. He said that the opposition suffered from contradictions and wondered why its chief minister and cabinet in the NWFP had chosen to meet with President Gen Pervez Musharraf who was wearing his military uniform during his visit to Peshawar over the weekend.

“The MMA objects to the president addressing the joint sitting of the parliament but invites him to address the cabinet in the NWFP. What do you call this?” he said.

He said that the provincial government instead of focusing on non-issues should divert its attention towards more pressing issues like the price hike and unemployment.

He denied the accusation by the provincial government that he had been tasked to topple the MMA government in the province. “Nobody is given such a task”, he claimed. “If they shoot themselves in the leg, its their choice”, he remarked.