ISLAMABAD, April 21: Opposition leaders in the National Assembly on Monday urged the government to hold a referendum to know the nation’s opinion on the Legal Framework Order (LFO).

“This is the suitable time for holding referendum as in current circumstances, it is the best possible way to break the deadlock,” People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi said while talking to reporters.

Responding to a question about possibility of rigging if referendum was conducted, he said, this time, workers of opposition parties would not allow any malpractice in the exercise.

Talking about Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s statement to hold a dialogue with the opposition on the LFO, he said if an invitation in this regard was extended, it would be welcomed.

The prime minister told reporters at the National Assembly that the government would extend formal invitation for dialogue to the joint opposition within next two days.

Talking to Dawn, an opposition leader belonging to the PPP, Raza Rabbani, said a rift had been developed between the prime minister and PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat over the LFO issue.

He said the prime minister wanted to settle the issue through dialogue, but the PML-Q chief said it would not be discussed in the parliament.

Mr Rabbani said the issue was related to constitutional amendments, therefore it should be settled in the parliament.

Talking about the issue of President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s speech during the joint session of the parliament, he said it was a constitutional compulsion, as without his speech, the parliament would remain a debating society and parliamentary year would not commence.

He said, under Article 56-3 of the Constitution, the president was bound to address the joint session of the parliament.

MMA leader Maulana Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said opposition would continue its protest within the parliament against the LFO, unless it was passed by the two-third majority in both lower and upper houses.