ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani on Sunday rejected Benazir Bhutto’s assertion that the PML leadership had derailed the Musharraf-PPP talks and blamed what he termed her unrealistic demands for the deadlock.

Addressing a press conference here, he denied that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had disrupted the talks. “The talks have been stalled because of PPP chairperson’s unrealistic demands.”

About objections raised by the ruling party and its allies to PPP’s demands, the minister particularly mentioned Ms Bhutto’s insistence on dissolution of local body governmentsand said it would be against public interest because local governments had empowered people at grassroots level.

“The dialogue process does not mean that the government will allow a specific group or individual to get certain benefits. It is against the spirit of dialogue to hurt the stability of state institutions.”

He said that the demand to repeal the Article 58 (2-b) of the Constitution was also unrealistic in the present situation since it acted as a safety valve against military interventions.

The amendment was made by parliament with a two-third majority, and its repeal also required a two-third majority which was not available now, he asserted. Besides, the clause also created a balance between the powers of the president and the prime minister and it ensured that none of them adopted an autocratic attitude.

Commenting on the return of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the minister said the government had worked out a plan to deal with the situation in accordance with the law. He predicted that if Mr Sharif’s party returned to parliament with a two-third majority, he would be under tremendous pressure.

Mr Durrani said that any demand which could hurt the democratic process would be improper.

When asked if the talks with the PPP had stalled on the uniform issue, Mr Durrani said that a dialogue was always for a package and it could not succeed or fail because of a particular issue.

“The government is clear on the issue of president’s uniform. The president will himself take a decision on the issue in accordance with the Constitution. The government will accept no deadline during the talks.”