LAHORE, May 23: The PML-N is quietly trying to remove misunderstandings between the PPP and the MMA, a party leader said on Wednesday. MNA Saad Rafiq said at a news conference that his party hoped that these efforts would succeed. He said the PML-N also believed that the PPP would not strike a deal with dictatorship at this juncture.

Referring to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s offer for reconciliation, he said if he was serious he should support the opposition parties in impeaching President Pervez Musharraf.

He said the position of the prime minister was no more than that of a showpiece. He said his party would join the lawyers in their protest on The Mall on Thursday.

The PML-N, he said, would receive Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on the Constitution Avenue, Islamabad, when he would arrive there to address the Supreme Court Bar on May 26.

He said the party would also celebrate in a befitting manner the anniversary of the nuclear explosions on May 28. Seminars and rallies would be held in various cities, he said.

Referring to Gen Musharraf’s statement that his uniform was his second skin, the PML-N lawmaker said it amounted to insulting the military dress. He said the nation would not allow him to make the uniform his second skin.

Calling on the general to take off the uniform, he said in case the call was not heeded, the nation would remove it.

He was critical of the MQM and its leadership for their role in the recent killings. —

Staff Reporter