09 January 2005	Sunday	27 Ziqa'ad 1425

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LAHORE, Jan 8: Ruling PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Husain says Gen Pervez Musharraf wants all political parties to sign a code of conduct so that the 2007 general elections are held peacefully and in a democratic way.

Talking to Dawn at his Gulberg residence on Saturday, he said the president also wanted the ruling party and the opposition to have identical views on Kashmir, Iraq, Afghanistan and other important issues.

Chaudhry Shujaat said a consensus among political parties of all shades of opinion was what the president meant by his national reconciliation idea.

But he made it clear that for the sake of national reconciliation the general elections would 'not' be advanced nor opposition parties given representation in the government.

The PML commands a majority and is in a position to run the system without support from any other party, he said.

In his opinion the national reconciliation idea had not been understood properly even by the government representatives and it was for this reason that they were offering conflicting interpretations.

The PML president said the elections would be held in 2007, but to make the atmosphere congenial the government wanted to hold talks with opposition parties.

Asked what measures would the government take to bring the opposition to the negotiating table, the PML president said already a number of 'unpopular' steps had been taken, which were severely criticized by the electorate.

He said the release of Mr Asif Ali Zardari was one such step. He said although cases were pending against him, Mr Zardari had been allowed to go abroad and live with his family in the UAE.

Similarly, 'personal requests' made by the PPP leaders were also granted, he said, without elaborating their nature.

The PML president said it was a goodwill gesture on the part of the government that on re-arrest Mr Zardari was not taken to a prison and instead allowed to stay at the Bilawal House in Karachi.

"Whatever relief is possible is being offered to the PPP leaders," Chaudhry Shujaat said.

In response to a question, the PML president said the government was also giving concessions to the PML-N leaders. He said permission granted to Hamza Shahbaz to go abroad and to the family of the former chief minister to stay in Pakistan were goodwill gestures extended to the Sharifs.

As a matter of fact, he said, both the concessions had been extended against the spirit of the banishment accord under which the Sharifs had left the country in Dec 2000.

Answering a question, he said the MMA would not be able to launch a movement. By taking a decision to incorporate the religion column in passports the government had deprived the religious parties' alliance of the only issue on which it wanted to bring the people out on the streets.

Asked about the possibility of his stepping down as the president of the party, he said he had been elected by the party's general council and supported by other parties which had merged themselves with the PML.

About the possibility of Gen Pervez Musharraf taking over as the PML president, Chaudhry Shujaat said the general was likely to join the PML after taking off his military uniform.

At present, he said, Gen Musharraf was in his uniform, but when he took it off to join politics, the PML would be the only party he would prefer to join.