ISLAMABAD, July 27: Key secular and moderate opposition parties boycotted a meeting on Sunday with Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali to end a bitter constitutional row over President Pervez Musharraf’s powers.

The opposition is demanding that Musharraf surrender his post as army chief and submit to a standard presidential election.

The MMA, however, did attend the three-hour meeting, signalling differences in the alliance of secular and religious parties.

The PML-N said his party would join talks once it was clear that the LFO was not a component of the Constitution, a PML-N spokesman said. Until then, PML-N spokesman Siddiqul Farooq confirmed to this news agency, ARD would boycott such sessions.

“We do not accept Musharraf as president in military uniform and we do not consider LFO as part of the Constitution,” Farooq said, noting a “consensus” among the opposition parties on these points.

The opposition campaign has brought the first parliament since Musharraf began his three-year rule to a virtual standstill.

Jamali’s PML-Q and its allies accept the constitutional changes and support Musharraf as president and the army chief.

The prime minister expressed satisfaction with Sunday’s session and said “it would lead to positive outcome.” —AFP