KARACHI, Sept 17: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) is “hopeful and optimistic” about reaching an agreement with the government on “two contentious issues in the Legal Framework Order (LFO).”
“We hope we are moving towards resolving the constitutional crisis facing the country in an amicable manner. Inshallah, we hope to reach an agreement with the government on two contentious issues in the LFO,” observed MMA President Senator Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani.
In an interview with PPI on Wednesday, he said that talks between top leaders of the MMA and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, along with PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and heads of its allied parties in the capital on Tuesday night were held in “a cordial atmosphere.”
“Most of the differences between the MMA and the government on the LFO have been resolved. Mr Jamali told us (the MMA leaders) during the talks that he would meet President Pervez Musharraf to resolve the two issues, after which he would contact us in a couple of days. Now the ball is in the court of President Musharraf. We will wait for two days in order to see the results,” Maulana Noorani said.
In case an agreement is reached with the government on the constitutional package, it would be presented in the National Assembly in the form of a bill to amend the Constitution, he said.
He said while the government wanted election of Gen Pervez Musharraf as president through a vote of confidence in parliament, the MMA felt that he (Gen Musharraf) should be elected as president for five years through the electoral college — a procedure laid down in the Constitution.
Responding to a question, he said it had been decided between the MMA and the government that all judges of the superior judiciary will remain in office only for one year instead of three after their retirement.
He said originally an agreement was reached on 21 out of the total 29 LFO articles. There was progress in resolving the remaining issues during the talks between members of the sub-committee of the MMA and the government at its meeting in Lahore last week, he said. —PPI
