12 July 2004	Monday	23 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

LAHORE, July 11: The ruling party as well as the People's Party Parliamentarians on Sunday vehemently denied reports that some deal is being negotiated between the two sides as a result of which some concession will be given to self-exiled former prime minister Ms Benazir Bhutto or her party.

"There's no likelihood of any deal. There's no need for a deal. Everybody is satisfied. It doesn't make any sense for us to think of a deal at this stage", the PML sources told Dawn.

On the other hand PPP Secretary-General Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said such reports were completely baseless. Had the PPP been interested in striking a deal, Ms Bhutto would not have been away from the country nor her spouse Asif Ali Zardari had been behind the bars for the past seven years.

A section of the press says that the government is discussing with the exiled former premier Benazir Bhutto a deal under which not only would she be allowed to return home but also be made chairperson of the Senate. Her incarcerated husband would be set free, Makhdoom Amin Fahim made deputy prime minister and the Sindh government handed over to the PPP. The PML sources said there was no truth in such reports.

They said the difficult period for the government was over with the resignation of Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali as prime minister. Now the system was working properly and there was no need for the ruling party to go for any deal with Ms Bhutto.

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said there was no change in the PPP stand. It believed that political parties and the army should work within their constitutional limits and neither side should encroach upon the jurisdiction of the other. Principles should be upheld at all costs and there should be no confrontation between political parties and the army.