PESHAWAR, Dec 4: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has said that the contentious issue of Legal Framework Order could be resolved through mutual understanding, cooperation and dialogue.
He said that as the head of the MMA government in the NWFP, he had worked to play the role of a bridge between the MMA and the federal government.
He expressed these views while talking to reporters here on Wednesday evening.
The chief minister said that in a democratic setup different political parties ruled the centre and the provinces.
In the NWFP, the MMA was a majority party and it had the right to rule, he said. He said in real democracy the ruling party took the opposition along and allowed it to criticize the government policies.
“We are a democratic people and know the prerequisites of democracy and whenever the president and prime minister visited the NWFP, we welcomed them,” he added.
The chief minister said the MMA leadership had shown flexibility in dialogue with the federal government on all outstanding issues and had reached an agreement.
“Anyone backing out now would have to do a lot of explaining to the people,” he remarked without elaborating.
He expressed the hope that after the return of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, people would feel a positive change in the political atmosphere vis-a-vis the MMA-government dialogue on the LFO.
Mr Durrani said that during the one-year rule in the province, his government had tried its best to maintain cordial relations with the federal government.
Keeping in view the religious and Pakhtoon values, the chief minister said, his government had formed a jirga that included representatives from all political parties, to take up the NWFP rights with the federal government.
He said the federal government had acknowledged the NWFP rights and assured it of full support.
Mr Durrani said that according to AGN Qazi formula, the NWFP share of net hydel profit came to Rs17 billion which had been capped at Rs6 billion.
“We want increase in our share as our province is backward,” he said.
He said that being a political worker, he understood the problems of prisoners and the government would remit prison sentences of those showing good character.