ISLAMABAD Aug 3: Pakistan Muslim League-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain claimed on Sunday that President Gen Pervaiz Musharraf’s uniform issue was a settled issue.

He was talking to newsmen at a luncheon party hosted at the party’s secretariat here on Sunday.

“I think it is a settled matter and I won’t comment anything more on this issue,” Mr Shujaat said. He refused to elaborate when repeatedly asked by the newsmen to further explain the matter.

The PML-Q chief said he had held discussions with Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal parliamentary leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed on Saturday and a date for resumption of talks on the draft constitutional package would be fixed this week after a mutual agreement.

He said the government would continue to try that other opposition parties also join the next round of government-opposition talks.

He said the delay in the resumption of talks with the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal did not mean a deadlock which the adversaries of the government wanted so much to see happened.

Mr Shujaat said it was the President’s earnest desire that all disputed issues were settled and a package deal was struck with the Opposition.

He said all parties concerned were seriously trying to resolve the matter and that there was every hope that this would happen through a dialogue but if the talks failed it would be unfortunate and the nation would not forgive the leaders for their failure.

When asked whether the government had prepared the constitutional package as was promised in the party heads meeting last Sunday, the PML-Q leader said: The legal experts were assigned the job but the actual draft package will be finalized during the government-MMA talks.”

The president wanted an agreement between the government and the Opposition on all contentious issues once and for all and for this purpose he was ready to show maximum flexibility, the PML leader said.

About the delay in the National Assembly session, Mr Shujaat said that the idea was that the required number of days in a calender year were completed and therefore the next session

could not be delayed indefinitely and “we have to summon the session within three or four days.”

Replying to a question with regard to the Government-Opposition talks on the retirement age of the superior courts’ judges he said efforts were under way to create a comprehensive draft formula which was agreeable to all sides.