December 3, 2003	Wednesday	Shawwal 8, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 2: Acting parliamentary leader of Pakistan Muslim League-N in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has expressed the hope that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) will not make any deal with the government on the issue of the Legal Framework Order (LFO).

Talking to newsmen at the PML-N office here on Tuesday, Chaudhry Nisar said his party would cooperate with only those groups and alliances which would work for the removal of the LFO from the Constitution.

“We cannot become a part of the efforts being made to legalize the LFO”, he said, adding that the PML-N would continue its struggle for the restoration of the 1973 Constitution even if it had to fight it alone. He said the PPP and the PML-N were united on the ARD platform and hoped other democratic forces would not compromise on principles.

He said the 1973 Constitution and the LFO were opposite to each other. “If we accept the LFO, then there is no need for the 1973 Constitution. And if we consider the 1973 Constitution supreme, then there is no place for the LFO,” he added.

Chaudhry Nisar said there were three basic issues in the LFO which could not allow it to become a part of the Constitution in any case. These are; the president’s uniform, Article 58-2(B) and the National Security Council. “It will be a crime to include these points in the Constitution and the PML-N will not become a part of that crime,” he added.

He announced that the combined opposition would requisition the National Assembly session by Dec 15. He said the PML-N and the PPP were in constant touch and formal meetings to chalk out future plans would be held within a week.

Condemning the recent increase in petroleum prices, the PML-N leader said the government should make adjustments in the surcharge it was receiving from the people instead of increasing prices.

He claimed the government had been generating Rs60 to Rs70 billion per annum as surcharge on fuel, which was illogical. He said the opposition would include in its agenda for the NA session that the prices of electricity, gas and petroleum products could only be increased with the approval of parliament.

The PML-N leader ridiculed Gen Musharraf’s announcement that the government was ready to give Nishan-i-Pakistan to Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Terming it a joke with the nation, Chaudhry Nisar said if the government could not protect the sentiments of the people, it had no right to hurt the sentiments of the nation.

He said both the PPP and the PML-N also initiated peace process with India but not at the cost of the honour and dignity of the nation.

On the one hand, he said, India was not ready even to receive Pakistan’s foreign minister, and on the other, President Musharraf and Prime Minister Jamali were hosting receptions even for small Indian delegations.