11 February 2005	Friday	01 Muharram 1426

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 10: President of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League and chairperson of the parliamentary committee on Balochistan, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, on Thursday expressed the confidence that he would be able to resolve the issue of Balochistan in two weeks.

Mr Hussain, who is also PML's parliamentary leader in the National Assembly, desired that the proposed constitutional package in line with the parliamentary body recommendations be given final shape before the National Assembly session, scheduled to begin on Feb 21.

Talking to a group of newsmen at his residence, Mr Hussain agreed that there was a status quo as far as Balochistan was concerned, but forthcoming two weeks were crucial during which he would take a decisive initiative to resolve Sui and other issues.

He held out assurance that the recommendations/findings of the parliamentary committee would be implemented in letter and spirit.

In reply to a query, Chaudhry Shujaat said: "We are in direct and indirect contact with Sardar Akabar Khan Bugti and hopefully, we will meet each other in next week or so."

He said: "We will be successful in giving a final shape to whatever we have planned and discussed during all these days."

The ruling PML chief hinted at bringing amendments to the constitution, which would be acceptable to all the four provinces. The provinces needed to be consulted before the preparation of final constitutional amendments, he added.

Wasim Sajjad, head of the parliamentary sub-committee on legal aspects of Balochistan, would be holding meetings with the leaders of the provinces before finalising his report, he said.

He regretted the attitude of those members of the parliamentary committee who had resigned before reaching a final consensus on the issues facing the nation.

Mr Hussain said those championing democracy and democratic institutions should have fulfilled their commitments at the outset of the committee meetings.

He said the government had formed the committee on the demand of the same Baloch leaders, and they should have allowed the body to give its final findings before reacting to the process.

Mr Hussain said the government wanted to continue work on all projects of Balochistan. He said the government would implement the recommendation of the parliamentary body in letter and spirit.