LAHORE, Aug 28: The PPP is holding talks with the emissaries of President Gen Musharraf to avert another martial law and abrogation of the Constitution, party president Makhdoom Amin Fahim says.

Refuting the impression that the talks negated the struggle the PPP had carried out for the past seven years or the commitments it had made from the platform of the ARD, he said while talking to Dawn on Tuesday that these allegations should better be pinned on Nawaz Sharif who had pulled his party out of the ARD.

The PPP’s struggle is for an unadulterated democracy through the current setup and restoration of the Constitution to its pre-1999 shape, claims the PPP leader.

Reiterating that uniform and democracy could not go together, he said it was not clear so far whether Gen Musharraf would step down as army chief. And unless the general made his position clear on this issue, the PPP would not spell out its position on other issues.

“It will be a great achievement if the PPP succeeds in returning the country to democracy.”

When it was pointed out that support to Gen Musharraf for another term in office even without uniform was in conflict with the declared policy of the PPP, Mr Fahim said: “We don’t want another martial law.”

Asked if Gen Musharraf had agreed to the demand that the Constitution should be restored to its pre-1999 shape, he said the PPP was sticking to its stand and waiting for a response from the other side.

He said the elections should be held under the supervision of a government of national consensus, acceptable to all opposition parties.

Asked if he would support the call for general elections before the presidential, the PPP leaders: “I don’t want the Constitution abrogated.”

He sidestepped as premature a question about the possibility of electoral cooperation between the PPP and the ruling PML. He said a decision on the subject would be taken after the announcement of the election schedule.

In response to another question, he said PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was in a better position to say whether Gen Musharraf wanted the two parties to join hands.

He said that adjustments were made according to the local conditions, but the issue would be relevant only after the announcement of the poll schedule.

He defended the expulsion of Ghulam Mustafa Khar from the PPP, saying he had violated discipline by issuing statements against the party policy. He said nobody was supposed to express difference of opinion on any subject through the media.