December 15, 2003	Monday	Shawwal 20, 1424

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LAHORE, Dec 14: The Pakistan Muslim League is scheduled to hold a meeting with the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal in Islamabad on Monday to finalize the constitutional amendments package, PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said on Sunday.

Talking to Dawn, he said constitutional experts, including Senator S.M. Zafar, would also take part in the meeting, where the MMA would be represented by Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Liaquat Baloch.

He said a session of the National Assembly would be called to approve the package next week but no date had been set for the purpose.

The PML chief made it clear that the Dec 17 deadline set by the MMA could not be followed.

“We’ll call the National Assembly session on Dec 19 or later, even if  the package is agreed upon earlier,” he said and emphasized that the government would not give in to the MMA’s ultimatums.

He said the leaders eager to launch a movement against the government were free to go ahead and see if the people supported their point of view.

In response to a question, he reiterated that the Legal Framework Order was a part of the Constitution and said there had been no shift in the government’s point of view on the issue. He said all amendments sought by the MMA would be made to the basic law, not the LFO.

The MMA does not agree with the stance and insists that parliament alone is competent to amend the Constitution. It claims that since the LFO was introduced by an individual, it carries no legal value.

Answering a question, Mr Hussain said the ruling party was in a position to get for President Gen Pervez Musharraf a confidence vote from all the assemblies, even if the MMA did not support him.

He said the general required only a simple majority and his party would conveniently get him the required votes.

He claimed that the president would be able to get enough votes even from the NWFP and Balochistan.

He said the confidence vote would be obtained after the issue of amendments had been resolved.