July 15, 2003	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 14, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

LAHORE, July 14: Prime minister Zafarullah Jamali is holding individual meetings with opposition leaders to seek suggestions for avoiding any deadlock during talks in formal meetings of parliamentary heads on the LFO and uniform, says MMA secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rahman.

Talking to reporters here on Monday evening, he stressed that the talks must result in finding out a permanent and durable political system instead of a temporary one.

Asked if he felt the government wanted to gain time through the talks, he said this time the talks process had been initiated by the government side which was aware of the fact that it could not run without reaching an understanding with the opposition.

Answering a question about elements that had sabotaged the government-opposition talks in the past, he said he could not apparently point out them but it was the responsibility of both the government as well as the opposition to check these elements.

Asked that why the already settled issues were again being raised in talks, he said Gen Pervez Musharraf had surprisingly attacked the MMA before his state visit to the US. But on his return the General again changed his attitude.

About the proposed Aug 14 public meeting of the joint opposition in Rawalpindi, the MMA leader said it would only be a meeting and did not amount to launching any movement against the government.

About PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Husain’s statement in London in which he had said that the LFO and uniform would not be discussed in talks, Maulana Fazl said the (political) atmosphere was bitter when Mr Husain had left the country. But as the atmosphere here had changed, his (Shujaat’s) tone would also change on his return from abroad.