LAHORE, April 10: The PML (Functional) says the PML constitution does not debar a man in uniform from becoming its member and then its president. However, the party says if such a person wants to join the organization , he will have to see whether the discipline of his own institution permits him to take such a step.

PML (Functional) chief organizer Kanwar Qutbuddin offered this explanation at a news conference when he was asked about the eligibility of Gen Musharraf to become head of the unified PML in the light of the party constitution.

Party's acting president Khan Sultan Mehmood Khan and Punjab President Sheikh Anwar Saeed were also present.

He said at present Chaudhry Shujaat was the head of the unified party and he would be formally elected president by the joint council of the five factions.

Asked what precisely Pir Pagara meant when he said that the country's chief executive should lead the PML, Mr Qutbuddin said it was for the president and the prime minister to decide who enjoyed the powers of the chief executive. However, he hastened to add that in a parliamentary system the prime minister was regarded as the chief executive.

He told a reporter that leaders of the five PML factions were meeting in Islamabad at the residence of Mr Hamid Nasir Chattha to set a date for the joint general council meeting. The day the general council met, the separate identity of all factions would come to an end.

He said his party still had reservations about the strength of the joint council, the number of councillors and creation of the office of the chief organizer. But, he said, in the larger national interest it would not try to block the unification on this ground.

Khan Sultan Mehmud Khan said in the unified party offices of senior vice-president, secretary-general and chief organizer would go to their faction and the remaining offices would be distributed among the remaining groups.

In response to a question, Mr Qutbuddin said he would like the PML-N to join the unified PML.

As for the return of the exiled leaders, he said they should honour the agreement under which they had left the country. He said PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto was in self-exile and it was for her to take a decision on when should she come back.He told a questioner that Gen Musharraf had honoured all commitments he had made in the past and he would stand by his word on taking off his uniform by the end of the year.

He said it was the personal opinion of some leaders that the president should stay on in his military uniform.

Meanwhile, the central council of the PML (Functional) is meeting here on Sunday (today) to elect a new president and discuss matters concerning the unification of various groups.

Pir Pagara, who will participate in the meeting as an ordinary councillor, has already arrived in the city.