ISLAMABAD, May 18: The Pakistan Muslim League-N on Sunday reiterated its inflexible stance over the Legal Framework Order (LFO) while urging the government to take the nation into confidence over issues of vital importance, including Kashmir and the nuclear programme.

This was stated by acting president of the PML-N Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, while briefing newsmen after a joint meeting of the party’s central working committee and its parliamentary group.

He said that the party had decided to stick to its stand on the LFO issue, adding that if the LFO was not presented in the Parliament then the party would present it before the public, threatening the government with an agitation campaign.

Mr Hashmi said that the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) would extend a call for agitation if the government failed to resolve the LFO issue in an amicable manner.

He said that the party had already started mobilising the public in this regard.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Saranjam Khan, MNA Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Mushahidullah Khan and Siddiqul Farooq were also present on the occasion. PML-N’s chairman Raja Zafarul Haq could not attend the meeting as he had already departed for Saudi Arabia.

Referring to the government-opposition talks on LFO, Chaudhry Nisar said that despite President Gen Musharraf’s insults on several occasions, the party had already shown flexibility by accepting the invitation for talks, adding that the party could have boycotted the talks in response to such remarks.

Responding to a question regarding granting immunity to the army, Chaudhry Nisar said that politicians were not bound to provide immunity to any person who had illegally removed an elected government.

He said that the outcome of the current government-opposition talks on the LFO would become public knowledge within the next week.

Acting president of the PML-N Javed Hashmi, while praising Chaudhry Nisar for effectively representing the party’s point of view in the government-opposition talks, dismissed reports about the possibility of Mr Shahbaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan, saying that these reports were part of the government’s disinformation campaign.

Describing such rumours as being part of the government’s efforts to divide the opposition parties, he said that the government had floated rumours regarding deals with the PML-N on Mr Shahbaz Sharif’s return and with the PPP over providing concessions to its party leaders, including Asif Ali Zardari, after talks on LFO entered a crucial phase.

Terming news reports about the corps commanders’ positive response regarding Gen Musharraf continuing as the chief of the army staff and the president speculative, the PML-N leader asked the ISPR to issue a denial in this regard. He said that such news reports were floated by vested interest and tarnished the army’s image.

He warned that some forces were trying to create a “street versus barrack” situation, which could turn into a “barrack versus barrack” situation.

The PML-N, he said, still believed in institutional integrity of the army, saying that armymen should confine themselves to defending the country’s frontiers.

He said that the PML-N had decided to observe May 28 as “Yom- i-Takbeer” in a befitting manner to mark the anniversary of Pakistan’s nuclear tests in 1998.

Through a resolution, adopted during the joint meeting, the PML-N called upon the government not to roll back its nuclear programme as it would reduce the country’s defence capabilities.