ISLAMABAD, June 17: The ruling of the National Assembly Speaker declaring the Legal Framework Order (LFO) as part of the Constitution has not shut the doors for dialogue with the opposition, said acting president and Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro here on Tuesday.

“The government is ready to hold dialogue with the opposition inside or outside the House so that the present standoff between the two benches could be resolved amicably through consensus,” he remarked.

He was speaking to reporters here at a luncheon hosted by Senate Deputy Chairman commander Khalilur Rehman (retd) in honour of the senators after the House was prorogued sine die. All the opposition members boycotted the lunch which was arranged in the Parliament House.

Responding to a question, Mohammadmian Soomro said to bring a no-confidence motion against the Speaker of the National Assembly was a democratic and constitutional right of the opposition.

Stressing that the government had not given assurances to any western powers, including the United States, about the rollback or freezing of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, and said the nation had great expectations regarding the current visit of President Pervez Musharraf to the US, Germany, the UK and France.

The acting president said he would endeavour to run the affairs of the Upper House smoothly in an orderly manner by taking along both the treasury as well as the opposition benches.