LAHORE, Oct 20: ARD Secretary-General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra believes that fresh elections will become imperative in case Gen Musharraf sticks to power and refuses to give Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali the authority he should enjoy as the country’s chief executive.

Talking to Dawn on Monday, he said exiled prime ministers Mian Nawaz Sharif and Ms Benazir Bhutto would return home if the prevailing constitutional deadlock led to new polls.

Jhagra said a solution to the impasse could be worked out through talks between opposition and a team constituted and mandated by the government. Such a team, he said, could be formed only by the prime minister as ARD parties would not hold talks with Gen Pervez Musharraf because he lacked a representative status.

The ARD secretary-general said in the prevailing situation talks with Gen Musharraf would amount to according him recognition, which the multi-party alliance would not like to do at any cost.

Jhagra said negotiations provided the best course to find a solution. But, he hastened to add that he was calling for talks, not dictation from Gen Musharraf.

In his opinion the MMA had been wasting its valuable time by engaging itself in pointless talks with the government. “It was a mistake on the part of religious parties”.

He said the ARD would mount enough pressure on the dictator to come to terms with opposition parties and the opposition campaign would continue till its objectives were achieved.

Jhagra insisted that the parliament was not complete in its composition as election for president was yet to be held. He demanded Gen Musharraf should quit both as army chief and president, as referendum, through which he had got the so-called mandate, was not the right way to elect the head of state.

He said the Legal Framework Order should also be withdrawn as it had no constitutional status. Should the government insist on its legality, the Constitution would cease to exist, he warned.

Heads of the ARD components are due to meet in Peshawar on Oct 25 to decide on a string of public meetings. Dates for 10 such meetings, venues of which were proposed by the late Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, would be finalized by the participants. The alliance secretary-general said opposition parties would keep themselves in a regular contact with the electorate and tell them about the disastrous consequences of the LFO and the presence of Gen Musharraf as president.

“Our struggle will continue till the restoration of genuine democracy”, Jhagra said.

He said arrangements for a public meeting on Oct 24 had also been completed. The meeting would be held at Khyber Bazaar-Qissa Khwani Bazaar Chowk which would be participated in by people from across the province.

This will be the ARD’s first public meeting after the death of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan.