ISLAMABAD Feb 4: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday rejected reports about a government plan to impose emergency in the country. He was addresing a news conference at the Prime Minister’s House.

Terming the reports baseless, he said that while the imposition of emergency was possible under the Constitution, the government was not considering any such proposal.

He also denied reports about government’s contacts with exiled politicians and said that they might have been contacted by agency officials for gathering necessary information.

The prime minister said that the ruling coalition was determined to get President Musharraf re-elected from the sitting assemblies. However, he said that there was a provision for extending the assemblies’ tenure by another year by imposing emergency.

He declined to comment when asked if anyone else could contest the presidential election.

The prime minister said: “We are constantly in touch with all opposition leaders but we are determined not to enter into a deal with any of them. We and our allies will contest elections on our own.”

He said he had contacted Maulana Fazlur Rahman during his convalescence after heart treatment in Lahore and had discussed different political issues. He refused to elaborate.

The prime minister said that the Kashmir Solidarity Day was being observed to express the country’s continued moral and political support for the people of Kashmir.

When asked if there was any ‘deadline’ to resolve the Kashmir issue, the prime minister said that although negotiations on various proposals, including the options floated by President Musharraf, were in progress at the levels of foreign ministers and foreign secretaries, there was no deadline.

He said the government was ready to take into confidence all stakeholders, including militant groups and leaders who had been ‘left out’, like the Syed Ali Gilani group, but it had welcomed All-Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) which was able to travel to Pakistan.

About the Jirga Commission, he said that the process had started and its first meeting had taken place in which the Afghan Jirga Commission was invited to visit Islamabad in February.

Defending the increase in price of liquefied petroleum gas, he said that the price formula would not affect its retail price as the government had allowed imports to improve supply situation.