LAHORE, Feb 8: ARD President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi on Wednesday proposed a “national dialogue” between the rulers and the opposition parties to find solution to the serious problems facing the country and contain what he called the widening gulf between various segments of society.

“Talks should be held on the basis of logic and reasoning, putting aside bitterness of the past and shunning ego”, he said while talking to Dawn.

Intimidation or any attempt to negate the role of national leaders, he said, would serve no purpose and all efforts made so far had already failed to cause any dent to the image of former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.

Hashmi, who is also president of the PML-N, said the capabilities of national leaders should be used for positive objectives. He said if Mr Sharif was required to shun ego, Gen Musharraf would also have to do the same for greater national interest.

He recalled that prolonged dialogue process between the government and the PPP had failed to yield results because the government had not given breathing space to the PPP. He said rapprochement would not be possible, and even dialogue would be an exercise in futility, unless ego was shunned by all sides.

“I hope that Mr Sharif and Ms Bhutto would, in the larger national interest, forgo the excesses they were subjected to in the past”.

Hashmi said unabated propaganda that politicians were corrupt had been going on since the day Gen Musharraf had unjustly overthrown the PML-N government. But during all these six years not a single corruption case had been instituted against any political leader. This, he argued, meant that the military rulers had cleared politicians of all corruption charges.

As for the references against various political leaders filed before October 1999, the ARD leader said only one leader (Yousaf Raza Gilani) had been convicted.

Hashmi said one would not be wrong to assume that the military rulers’ agenda stood completed as far as eradication of corruption was concerned.

He said Gen Musharraf should make way for a political rule if he had accomplished the agenda he had set for himself at the time of the takeover as after that there was no justification for him to stay on. And if he had not finished his agenda despite enjoying all powers over a period longer than the one allowed to two political governments preceding him, he still should bow out. He made it clear that the situation would not improve unless people were made the masters of their destiny. The next election would become controversial and the crisis would aggravate if the genuine leaders of people were not allowed to take part in the electoral process, he said.

With popular leaders out of the process, he warned, even the election would not resolve the crisis.

The PML-N leader said the welcome accorded to Mr Sharif on his arrival in London on Jan 29 had pulverized the propaganda that political leaders kept adherents with them by giving them financial benefits. He said the reception the PML-N founder had received in the British capital should raise many an antenna.

Answering a question, the ARD president said at the time of the next general election opposition parties would ask for votes so that provisions which had distorted the Constitution could be struck down.

He said the provisions incorporated through the LFO or the 17th Amendment had become part of the basic law, although they had made the Constitution controversial. “It’s a bad law, but it is the law of the land. To strike it down, political parties will have to evolve a consensus and acquire necessary numerical strength in both houses of parliament”.

He was critical of the MMA for its role in the adoption of the 17th Amendment, saying the religious alliance would have to justify its conduct to the nation.

The ARD president said international situation at the time when Gen Zia was in power was much different from the one at present when Gen Musharraf was in the driving seat. Countries and political parties which were supporting Gen Zia were not on the side of Gen Musharraf. Shift in the US policy was very clear and it was supporting India rather than Pakistan.