September 19, 2007	Wednesday	Ramazan 06, 1428

LAHORE, Sept 18: Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi says the government has several options at its disposal in case President Pervez Musharraf is disqualified to contest for a second term. He, however, declined to disclose these ‘at this stage’ and said: “It’s not safe to do so.”

Talking to Dawn here on Tuesday, he said the president’s assurance to the Supreme Court about his uniform should satisfy everybody. “This is a good development. Now his critics are left with no justification to raise the issue of the president’s two offices.”

He said it would not be in the country’s interest if the institution of the president was destabilised and anyone doing so would be harming the country.

The chief minister said the president’s decision to quit as the army chief would not affect the strength of the ruling party as he would remain the head of state.

The chief minister, who along with PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Husain, had earlier called on the Saudi ambassador in Islamabad, rejected PML-N’s claims that exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would be returning home in a few weeks.

He said the agreement under which the Sharif family had left the country in December 2000 was valid for 10 years and the Sharifs were required to stay out of the country for another three years.

Some PML-N leaders have claimed that Mr Sharif would be in Pakistan soon after the presidential election, due to be completed by Oct 15.

The chief minister also said the period of Sharifs’ exile could be extended and not reduced. There was no question of the government reviewing the agreement, he said in categorical terms.

He regretted that the former prime minister had been misleading the nation for seven years by insisting that there was no agreement for his exile. Eventually, he said, the PML-N leader had to admit that the family was staying out of the country because of an understanding.

Pervaiz Elahi said the understanding applied to the entire Sharif family and nobody could come back before completing 10 years in exile.

Replying to a question, he denied that President Musharraf had ever asked him or Chaudhry Shujaat to meet Ms Benazir Bhutto and hold talks for electoral cooperation.

The president’s aides, who had been holding talks with the PPP chairperson, were the choice of Ms Bhutto, said the chief minister.

So far, he said, the talks between the two sides had been inconclusive because Ms Bhutto had been waiting for the fate of Nawaz Sharif and the Supreme Court’s decision on the president’s dual offices.

In his assessment, serious talks would begin only after the apex court’s judgment. However, he did not say whether the Chaudhrys would take a direct part in the parleys.