ISLAMABAD, April 18: The protest of the opposition against the Legal Framework Order is intended to block the role of the armed forces in national politics permanently, the parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) in the National Assembly, Javed Hashmi said on Friday.

Talking to newsmen at the Parliament House, he said acceptance of the LFO would mean endorsing the right of the armed forces to rule forever.

Since a large chunk of the armed forces came from the largest province, their role would hurt the interest of the country and adversely affect the federation, he said.

He said such a situation could also lead to events similar to that in East Pakistan.

He said there was a feeling of deprivation among the smaller provinces against the alleged hegemony of a province and giving a role to the army would deepen it.

When his attention was drawn towards the apprehensions being expressed by certain quarters that the opposition’s protest might end in packing up of parliament, he said dissolution would be a small compromise in the struggle for the supremacy of the democratic norms.