HYDERABAD, Sept 14: A resolution urging President Gen Pervez Musharraf not to shed uniform would be tabled in the Sindh Assembly, said Pakistan Muslim League, Sindh, general-secretary Imtiaz Ahmad Shaikh here on Tuesday.

He said it was necessary for continuation of foreign, domestic and economic policies, as well as stability of institutions, that Gen Musharraf kept both offices of the president and the Chief of Army Staff.

Mr Shaikh, who is also the Sindh minister for revenue, was talking to journalists at the residence of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MPA Abdul Rehman Rajput where he had come to request the MMA leadership to withdraw a case filed by Mr Rajput at the Sindh High Court challenging candidature of Rahila Tiwana as the deputy speaker.

He said timing of tabling the resolution had not been decided but it was very much on the cards as PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had offered support to Gen Musharraf on the issue and the Punjab Assembly had already adopted such a resolution.

The minister pointed out that the PML had always supported Gen Musharraf's stance on keeping both the offices and a formal statement had been given by the party chief. He said allied parties would also be consulted in this regard.

He said Gen Musharraf had introduced the devolution system and provincial and federal governments had also started working smoothly. He said he personally felt that different institutions would be strengthened if the president continued to keep both the offices.

Answering a question, he said the Sindh Assembly's resolution regarding Computerized National Identity Cards specifically pertained to residents of the Orangi town and two union councils who possessed old identity cards. He said it had not been moved for allowing aliens to get CNICs.

He maintained that the National Aliens Registration Authority had not conducted a survey to find out exact figure of foreigners in the province. Referring to committees formed by the president on the water issue, he said the committees were working under a certain timeframe and if they had delayed their reports, there must be some technical problems.

About talks with the MMA leadership, he said the longstanding issue of the MMA protest against the deputy speaker had been resolved, adding that negotiation with the party on the issue had been going on since long.

He said the Sindh chief minister was aware of the talks and he must have taken allied parties into confidence. He said it had been decided that the MMA would not protest when Ms Tiwana would preside over Sindh Assembly sessions.

As far as litigation was concerned, he said, it would be looked into given legal nature of the matter. About his ministry, he said it was planning to launch a revenue management information system under which record of rights and land would be computerized.