PESHAWAR, Dec 6: State Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli has termed rumours about a deal between the government and the People's Party Parliamentarians mere rumours. She was talking with journalists in Nowshera district after addressing a public meeting there on Sunday.

Ms Tahirkheli said these speculations had started circulating in the wake of Asif Ali Zardari's release and President Pervez Musharraf's conveying of condolence to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the death of his father.

Discounting the possibility of a PPP-govt deal, she said Asif Ali Zardari had been released by the Supreme Court on bail after a litigation lasting about eight years and the media was portraying it as a deal between the government and the PPP.

Similarly, she said, the president's condolence with the other former prime minister should not be construed as a gesture of reconciliation. She said the government was always negotiating with political parties for finding out amicable solutions to contentious issues and to create an environment of reconciliation in the country.

The government, she said, had initiated a process of dialogue with political parties to promote and strengthen democracy. The state minister also rejected reports about the possibility of holding general elections in 2005. Expressing the confidence about parliament's completing its tenure, she said fresh elections will be held in 2007.

Referring to NA-35 by-elections in the Malakand Agency, Ms Tahirkheli criticized the MMA government's performance and said it had disappointed the poor in the NWFP. She said that the Frontier government had ignored basic problems of the masses and its policy would affect the alliance's performance in by-elections.

She expressed the confidence about the victory of PML's candidate Salim Saifullah Khan and said people wanted resolution of their problems through their elected representatives. The MMA legislators, she said, had done nothing for the betterment of their constituents other than thumping desks in parliament. -APP