ISLAMABAD April 28: The government and the combined opposition on Monday agreed to constitute an 11-member joint committee which will draft a constitutional package from the agreeable points of the Legal Framework Order to be submitted to parliament in the shape of a bill.

The committee will have five members each from the combined opposition and the government, with prime minister or his nominee being its chairman. It will complete its draft package by May 11. The bill, after mutual agreement, will be presented in the assembly for assent of a two-third majority.

The participating leaders, particularly those of the opposition, were upbeat about the result of Monday’s talks. They described the atmosphere during the deliberations as congenial.

All the decisions about the amendment bill shall be finalized before summoning of the next session of National Assembly, it was agreed. The ongoing session in the meantime will be prorogued after it resumes briefly on Wednesday.

At the very outset, the PPP Parliamentarians surprised one and all as it informed the government side that its three-member team which had participated in the first round of talks on Friday had been changed.

The change was made by the party chief Benazir Bhutto who decided to replace Naveed Qamar with Shah Mehmud Qureshi and included the name of Latif Khosa as the fourth member.

Those participating in the parleys from the government side included Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Rao Sikandar Iqbal, Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Safwanullah, Hamid Nasir Chattha, Ijazul Haq, Abdur Razzaq Thaheem, Munir Orakzai, Allama Tahirul Qadri and Azam Tariq.

The combined opposition included Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Maulana Samiul Haq, Allama Sajid Naqvi and Prof Sajid Mir from the MMA, Makhdoom Amin Faheem, Shah Mehmud Qureshi, Aitizaz Ahsan and Latif Khosa from the PPP Parliamentarians, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi and Ishaq Dar from the PML-N, Imran Khan (PTI), Asfandyar Wali Khan (ANP), Abdur Rauf Mengal (BNP) Mehmud Khan Achakzai (PAMP), Abdur Rauf Mengal (BNM) and Aslam Buledi (JWP).

The constitutional package will also cover the most contentious issue of president’s holding of the office of COAS.

Later, MMA’s Maulana Fazlur Rahman told reporters outside the PM house that the talks were held in a highly cordial atmosphere but said “one has to see how much flexibility is demonstrated by the government.”

The gates of the PM house were closed on newsmen on Monday after what was described as their ‘uncalled-for’ rush in the first round of talks, which reportedly had angered Prime Minister Jamali.

The Maulana said the opposition parties will hold a meeting on Tuesday to finalize and forward five names for representation at the joint committee. He said the opposition side will stress on inclusion of six points which it had identified as major impediments.

The agreed constitutional package prepared by the joint committee will be put before the respective leadership of both the government and the opposition side on May 15, he said.

Responding to a query, he said all the issues, including president’s army cap, will be covered in the proposed constitutional package.

Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed expressed optimism about the outcome of the government-opposition dialogue, saying these will yield some positive results.

Talking to official media, he said the stalemate appeared to be nearing its end, with Monday’s smooth session of the National Assembly and fruitful talks between the government and the opposition in the evening.

He appreciated the role of the opposition and said: “It’s a responsible approach to seek resolution of issues across the table.”

PML-N’s Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said that, if required, another round of talks will be convened after the joint committee completes its work.

He said the question of combined opposition’s meeting with president did not figure in Monday’s parleys. He claimed that both the sides had agreed in principle that all the laws, including the LFO, had to be presented in parliament for approval.

To a query, he described the issue of president’s holding of duel offices as the most contentious one, along with the article 58(2)b, and added that the main focus of talks was on these two questions.

He said the government had not taken a tough position on issues of NSC, schedule 6 and even 58(2)b.

The smaller party leaders who participated in the talks for the first time expressed their views when talks resumed and also gave some important input, he said.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that two or three more points were raised in Monday’s talks. He however did not elaborate.