ISLAMABAD, Oct 20: National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain has said there should be no dispute on the Legal Framework Order (LFO) after his ruling on the issue.

Speaking to newsmen before the beginning of the National Assembly session here on Monday at the Parliament House, he said the LFO was part of the Constitution and now talks between the government and the opposition could be held only on amendments to the Constitution.

Asked why the government was holding talks with the opposition when the LFO was part of the Constitution, he said dialogues should always continue in democracy as these were necessary for bringing any amendment to the Constitution.

On the issue of the appointment of the opposition leader, the speaker said he had asked the opposition parties to provide him a list of MNAs with their signatures and the name of the person whom they supported for the post. “One of the groups has not submitted the list yet, which is causing the delay,” he said without mentioning the name of the group.

However, without giving any timeframe, the speaker said the matter would be resolved soon.

The speaker said maintenance of the quorum was the responsibility of both the government and the opposition. “Every member is responsible for the smooth functioning of the house.”

He asked the members to ensure the quorum in the house so that the house could conduct legislative business. The speaker praised the government for running parliament “successfully” despite noisy opposition protest.

The speaker termed his recently-concluded visit to Russia successful and said the Russian parliament deputy chairman had offered mediation between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

Meanwhile, speaking to Dawn, ARD parliamentary group secretary Izhar Amrohvi said the alliance had submitted a list of its MNAs with the signatures of 78 lawmakers on Aug 13, 2003, and a reminder had also been submitted to the speaker’s office.