July 30, 2007	Monday	Rajab 14, 1428

ISLAMABAD, July 29: Following reports of a power-sharing accord between President Pervez Musharraf and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in their Abu Dhabi meeting, the government and the PPP appear to be concentrating on the legislative work which would be required to implement the deal.

Highly placed sources told Dawn that under the new scheme, the PPP parliamentarians will move during the National Assembly’s session beginning on Monday to change the executive order in the Political Parties Act which bars a person from holding the prime minister’s office for the third time, and the government will move the 18th amendment with the support of the PPP to give one-time waiver to Gen Musharraf after he quits the army post to seek another presidential term from the next assemblies.

According to the sources, the government will not oppose the PPP move and, in turn, will get full support for the approval of the waiver for Gen Musharraf under article 63 of the Constitution, allowing him to become civilian president without waiting for two years after leaving the office of the COAS.

The lower house will be prorogued after the passage of the two bills and a schedule will be announced for general election to be held in October-end.

Under the accord, Benazir Bhutto will return home next month, instead of September as she had announced, and will not be arrested or implicated in any fresh case. The assemblies will be dissolved between Aug 1 and 15, when an interim government will be formed in consultation with the PPP to hold elections.

The sources said that PPP’s conditions include empowerment of the election commission, making it independent enough to ensure transparent and neutral polls. The voters’ lists will also be revised and the names of missing voters sought by the PPP will be included. In between, the sources said, both the government and the PPP would continue to keep quiet over details of their understanding.