LAHORE, March 4: Protest meetings proposed to be held by Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) in front of the Pakistan People’s Party offices in the Punjab will fuel provincial hatred, former president Farooq Leghari told a hurriedly called press conference here on Monday.

True, the PPP, if it was really involved in the attack on PML (QA) procession, had set a very bad precedent that should be condemned in the strongest terms. The PML(QA) action, however, would be a grave mistake, the Millat Party chief said.

Mr Leghari appealed to the workers of both parties to desist from confrontation, even if it amounted to defying their leaders. If the PML(QA) must hold protest meetings, he suggested, they should be held in Sindh. Taking the grievance to the Punjab would be interpreted by vested interest in Sindh in parochial terms. The PML(QA) must, therefore, resist the temptation.

The alleged attack on the PML(QA) meeting, Mr Leghari said, had highlighted the need for a code of conduct for electioneering. The Millat Party, he said, would prepare a draft of such a code of conduct and contact all political parties to seek consensus on a revised version. The parties, he said, must put their heads together to avoid undue hiccups in return to democracy.

About the present government’s right to amend the constitution, the former president said it had been granted by the Supreme Court. But, he added, amendments must be kept to a minimum and would become legal only when endorsed by an elected parliament.