KARACHI, June 1: Chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Raja Zafar-ul-Haque has expressed the apprehension that Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s failure in convening a meeting of the heads of all parties on the issue of Legal Framework Order (LFO) might be an indication of a change in the government’s strategy.

Speaking by phone from Lahore on Sunday, Mr Haque, who had been in Karachi last week, said that it seemed as if no other person, except Gen Musharraf, was authorized to take a decision on key issues like the LFO.

The first meeting of the 10-member committee, comprising representatives from the government and the combined opposition, had decided that the committee’s recommendations would be presented at the proposed meeting of the central leadership of the ruling coalition and head of parties in the combined opposition. The recommendations would then were to be tabled in the parliament in the shape of a bill for legislation.

Though the committee, headed by Speaker of the National Assembly Chaudhry Amir Hussain concluded its discussion on May 16, the government has not yet scheduled a meeting of the party chiefs for further progress on the issue.

Responding to a question, Raja Zafar-ul-Haque said he did not buy the idea that a section of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal was pondering over accepting the LFO. However, he added, if anyone went against the principled and constitutional stand on LFO, he would be the loser politically.

Regarding the ongoing developments in the Punjab, the PML-N chief observed that the attitude of police and government with the opposition inside and outside the assembly was a manifestation of some calculated move to vitiate political atmosphere.

He said there were many speculations, including premonition of a change, circulating in the country. “This does not augur well for democracy,” he cautioned.

Elaborating, he pointed out that usual practice in every democratic dispensation was that if opposition felt aggrieved and reacted accordingly, the government took it along. However, he added, in the case of Punjab, the government’s response appeared violent. “Members of the assembly, including women, are being manhandled and sent to Bahawalpur, Rawalpindi and Multan prisons only to aggravate the situation.

He pointed out that although the government had prorogued the session, the opposition called for a requisition session.

The PML-N chief’s attention was drawn to the speech he had made on ‘Yaum-i-Takbeer’ and where he had mentioned of a threat hurled at Nawaz Sharif for the latter’s refusal to succumb to any pressure on Pakistan’s going nuclear. Mr Haque explained that on the eve of a UN session, the US secretary of State Madeline Ulbright had told Sartaj Aziz that Nawaz Sharif’s intention to introduce 15th amendment to the Constitution and make Pakistan a nuclear power was not acceptable to the United States.

Mr Haque called for total unity, cohesion and consensus on all political issues. He said that all political forces should forge unity in their ranks and file to defend the nation’s nuclear programme.