PESHAWAR, Sept 25: Federal Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani has said that the success of Gen Pervez Musharraf in the presidential election is necessary for the continuation of the democratic process in the country.

Speaking to local editors and journalists at an iftar-cum-dinner at a local hotel on Tuesday, Mr Durrani said the opposition had the right to oppose the government, but it had no right to close the roads leading to parliament building. He said the government would not allow anybody to close the Constitution Avenue, adding that opposition had accepted its defeat by hinting at the dissolution of the NWFP Assembly before the presidential elections.

He said Pakistan Muslim League-Q Chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao had proposed and seconded the nomination of President Pervez Musharraf. He said Senate chairman Mohammadmian Soomro and National Assembly Speaker Chaudhary Amir Hussain would be the president’s covering candidates in the election.

He said the opposition had time and again given threats of resignations from Senate and assemblies, but it never honoured its words. He said the opposition had been misleading the masses for the past five years, but the people had not responded to its so-called claims about the agitation.

He asked the opposition to stay away from what he called the confrontational and negative politics and focus its efforts on constructive side.

The minister held out an assurance that all detained lawmakers would be brought to their respective houses on Oct 6 so that they could cast their votes in the presidential election. He said opposition leaders were free to oppose the president’s election, but they were not free to lay siege to the Supreme Court and parliament buildings.

He said the opposition could not reverse the course of the democratic process in the country.

Mr Durrani said that present assemblies would complete their term and the fresh elections would be held on time after the presidential election.

To a question, he said freedom of expression had some limits and no one would be allowed to cross them. When asked the president had said that uniform was his skin and he would not doff his skin, the minister did not answer the question.