LAHORE, March 2: Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, one of the four PPP hopefuls for the office of prime minister, indicated here on Sunday that his party could work with President Pervez Musharraf, in view of the current crisis-like situation.

“One must be able to work with everyone, be it a political party or the president,” Mr Mukhtar told Dawn.

He said at a time when the country was passing through a crisis-like situation, one should try to create harmony among all people, including the president.

When it was pointed out that his stance appeared to be in conflict with the declared policy of the party, he said that Benazir Bhutto had consistently said that the PPP could have a working relationship with President Musharraf. He said Asif Zardari also had the same opinion.

“If we say we’ll not work with him, the PPP will not be able to form government. This means there will be a stalemate from the word ‘go’.”

A former minister for commerce who defeated PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Husain for a National Assembly seat in Gujrat, Mr Mukhtar said a stalemate would not be in the best national interest and it would affect the flow of foreign investment.

About the reinstatement of deposed judges of superior courts, he said the matter should be decided by parliament as soon as possible.

He said once the matter was referred to parliament it would go to house committees in which all parties would have representation, and no party could challenge a decision taken by the committees.

The PML-N, which would be a coalition partner with the PPP in the future set-up, would have no reservations about the procedure he was proposing to resolve the post-Nov 3 crisis. He said decisions taken by courts in such situations in the past had been validated by parliaments and the situation would not be any different this time around.