ISLAMABAD, June 14: It is the duty of every Pakistani particularly of the elected representatives to counter religious extremism and promote the moderate face of the country.

This was stated by President General Pervez Musharraf while talking to two groups of parliamentarians which called on him at the Aiwan-i-Sadr on Monday. President Musharraf called upon the people's representatives to play a proactive role for the improvement of law and order by promoting sectarian harmony and religious tolerance in their respective constituencies.

He said it was equally important that the people's representatives should contribute to the strengthening of democratic institutions in the country. He said Pakistan had achieved economic stability and for the first time Rs202 billion had been allocated for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in the federal budget.

The fruits of economic prosperity were being passed on to the common man, he added. In this context, he asked the people's representatives to oversee progress of the developmental schemes and projects in their respective areas so that the masses could benefit from these.

The inputs by the legislators were essential for the identification and launching of developmental projects, he added. The president assured the parliamentarians that measures would be taken to promote greater harmony among the MNAs, MPAs and the representatives of the local bodies.

He said the devolution process was meant for giving more representation to the people and for the benefit of the common man. During the meeting, the parliamentarians exchanged views with the president and highlighted various problems being faced by people in their constituencies.

They expressed their total support to the measures being taken for ridding the country from the scourge of terrorism, extremism and sectarianism. Those who called on the president included the National Assembly deputy speaker, Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob, Amanullah Khan Jadoon, Omer Ayub Khan, Sardar Shah Jehan Yousaf, Ghulam Waseem, Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain, Chaudhry Ghias Ahmed Mela, Chaudhry Anwar Ali Cheema, Mazhar Ahmed Qureshi, Sumaria Malik, Malik M. Saifullah Khan Tiwana, Mohammad Sanaullah Khan and Rashid Akbar Khan.