July 14, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 13: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Sunday separately called on MMA secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rehman, its vice-president Qazi Hussain Ahmed and PML-N’s acting president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi to pave way for holding the promised government-opposition meeting for resumption of talks on the Legal Framework Order.

Later, talking to journalists here, the prime minister said he would also meet with leaders of the People’s Party Parliamentarians.

After the meeting, leaders of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal expressed their willingness to restart political dialogue besides continuing the process until the resolution of disputes.

After the meeting, MMA’s parliamentary leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed and secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rahman declined to comment on the meeting, saying they did not want to jeopardize the talks, adding that they wanted the talks to succeed.

Earlier, the prime minister had another meeting with President Pervez Musharraf, his third in a week.

An official announcement stated: “Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan met President Gen Pervez Musharraf in Rawalpindi this (Sunday) afternoon. During the course of the meeting, the two leaders exchanged views on various matters of national importance.”

The MMA leadership’s decision to receive the prime minister separately had fuelled speculations that perhaps the religious alliance was on the verge of breaking up.

Commenting on the possibility of meeting with PPP or the PML- N leaders abroad, the prime minister said that he believed that decisions about Pakistan should be made inside the country.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that he had appreciated the prime minister’s efforts to foster closer ties with politicians, adding that he had told him that important political decisions should be taken during the proposed meeting of the opposition parties’ heads.

Expressing the confidence regarding settling the issues in the upcoming government-opposition joint meeting, he said that they had held candid one-on-one meeting and had discussed various issues. He said that they had arrived at a consensus regarding holding of the joint meeting as soon as PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat returned from abroad, adding that various opposition leaders, including himself and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, would try to wrap up their respective foreign visits by that time.

Qazi Hussain said that they had agreed during the meeting with the prime minister that all contentious issues should be placed before the parliament for discussion.

Referring to the congenial atmosphere created after the July 7 session of the National Assembly, he said that both the treasury and the opposition benches should try to main it, adding that no one should be allowed to deteriorate the situation in this regard.

Dispelling the rumours about rift between the MMA leaders, he said that the decision to hold separate meetings with both the MMA leaders had been made by the prime minister, adding that there was no rift between the MMA whatsoever.

He said that he would be exchanging notes with Maulana Fazlur Rahman after his meeting with the prime minister.

Referring to his outburst against PPP-S chief Aftab Sherpao, he said that no negotiation team had yet been formed by the government, adding that whatever he had said was based on press reports.

Earlier, Maulana Fazlur Rahman told journalists here after meeting Mr Jamali that they wanted to engage themselves in a candid and decisive dialogue with the government, adding that the talks should be based on reason.

Endorsing Qazi Hussain Ahmed’s stand vis-a-vis the cut-off date for the president’s army uniform, he said that they were ready to discuss the issue.

On a number of occasions, he said, Gen Musharraf had himself admitted that the two offices — that of the president and the COAS — should not remain in the hands of a single individual.

The issue, he said, could not be resolved if any one of the two parties remained inflexible.

Reiterating the opposition’s stand on the LFO besides expressing the resolve to safeguard the supremacy of the parliament, he said that both sides should take steps to resolve the crisis.

Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, acting president of PML-N, after his meeting with the prime minister, said that he would discuss with other opposition leaders what had transpired during his meeting with the prime minister, adding that the ARD leadership would also be taken into confidence in this regard.

Prime Minister Jamali said that he would also meet Makhdoom Amin Fahim whenever he arrived in Islamabad.