LAHORE, Aug 26: A ruling coalition leader, who is holding talks with the MMA to find a solution to the LFO controversy, said on Tuesday that efforts were being made to block the parleys, and called upon religious parties to play their role in thwarting such moves.

Speaking at a ceremony held here on Tuesday to celebrate the 63rd foundation day of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Senator S. M. Zafar said the Jamaat, following in the footsteps of its founder Maulana Maudoodi, should ensure that some solution to the crisis was hammered out to keep the system on the track.

Mr Zafar, a former law minister, said this on a day when President Musharraf reiterated at a news conference that the LFO was a part of the Constitution and if it was withdrawn, the entire electoral process would stand reversed.

MMA Secretary-General Maulana Fazlur Rehman told Dawn on Tuesday that the General’s statement would create more complications for the government than for opposition parties.

“(Gen) Musharraf will be the worst sufferer in case the system is wrapped up,” the Maulana said.

By showing flexibility the MMA had given relief to the government in a bid to save the system, but the authorities that matter must not take the gesture as their (MMA’s) weakness, he warned.

Mr Zafar said that all efforts should be devoted to enable parliament to complete its term.

JI leader Liaquat Baloch, who is representing the MMA in its talks with the ruling party, said the religious parties alliance was quite serious in finding a solution to the prevailing constitutional impasse. However, he said, this would be possible only when an individual shunned ego and stopped thinking himself indispensable for the country.

He said the MMA was willing to indemnify the steps taken by Gen Musharraf during his three-year rule provided the matter was brought to parliament in a constitutional manner. Also, he said, what the MMA was proposing was a better course for Gen Musharraf compared to what the earlier military rulers had been offered in their respective tenures.

Mr Baloch said the president’s team had demanded that Gen Musharraf should be accepted in uniform till October next year to which the MMA had responded positively. But, the MMA leader alleged, Gen Musharraf himself was not willing to present himself before his electoral college.