June 16, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 30, 1428

LAHORE, June 15: Dr Mubashir Hasan, Punjab president of the PPP-SB, says the presidential reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry should be withdrawn after which he should step down immediately.

However, he doesn’t propose the same course for President Musharraf, and says the general did not come to power with anyone’s consent nor will he quit on public demands.

Talking to reporters at his residence on Friday, he said the judicial crisis “demands an honourable exit both for Justice Chaudhry and President Musharraf. This is the only solution that will cause least problem”.

Justice Chaudhry, he said, had the potential of providing a new leadership in political field, which would be a far greater service than sitting on the bench.

The CJP’s counsel has repeatedly said that Justice Chaudhry will not resign in case he wins the legal battle.

Dr Hasan supported the idea floated by some senior ruling PML parliamentarians that the government should call an all-party conference to discuss the problems facing the country. However, he said the initiative should be taken by the prime minister rather than anybody else.

Exiled leaders Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif, he said, should be permitted to attend the proposed APC as both were popular leaders. He said since both risked arrest or deportation on their return to Pakistan, the government should remove the threat.

Dr Hasan, who was minister for finance when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the prime minister, is a strong critic of Ms Benazir Bhutto and because of his differences with the self-exiled leader, he is working with Ms Ghinwa Bhutto, chairperson of the rival faction of the PPP.

Asked if he was in favour of cooperation between the PPP of Ms Benazir Bhutto and Gen Musharraf, who are already in contact with each other, Dr Hasan said he did not find any difference between Gen Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto, Mian Nawaz Sharif and even the MMA.

“Not a single difference has emerged (between them) on the question of foreign policy, economic issues or social matters”.

The PPP (SB) leader said the APC should discuss among other things the law and order situation which was so bad that there was a serious threat to the life and property of the people and the number of proclaimed offenders in Punjab alone stood at 33,000.

Growing antagonism among the federating units, quantum of provincial autonomy, bottlenecks of the judicial system, riddance from dictates of foreign powers, the current power crisis as a result of which the industrial production was going down, scarcity of drinking water and price hike should also be on the agenda of the APC, said Dr Hasan.

He said if the APC was called by the prime minister it would send a message about the supremacy of parliament over the executive.