ISLAMABAD, July 27: The government-MMA talks on the LFO ended on a “positive” note here on Sunday as both the parties talked of the possibility of finding a “middle way” on the major sticking points — the president’s uniform, his powers to dissolve the National Assembly and establishment of the National Security Council.
The two sides did not specify the date of next round of talks. The MMA leaders said it would be held “within days” while Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said the next round would be held “soon after consulting the allied parties.”
Maulana Fazlur Rahman, after coming out of the Prime Minister House, told the waiting reporters that all the contentious issues of the LFO were discussed, and the government had shown “flexibility.”
Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told a news conference that the talks were held on a three-point agenda — the discretionary powers of the president to dissolve the National Assembly, establishment of the National Security Council, and the date when the president would lay down his uniform.
He said it was decided that another round of talks be held after consulting the allied parties.
MMA’s parliamentary leader and vice-president Qazi Hussain Ahmed told newsmen at the JI’s office that the Majlis reiterated its stated position on the LFO and related issues during the talks, and told the government side that the deadlock could only be broken if the amendments were brought to the assembly in the shape of a constitutional package.
He said the ball was now in the government’s court and “we will wait for their response in the next three, four days.”
He said the MMA was still part of the combined opposition, and it will continue its struggle for supremacy of parliament and the 1973 Constitution, and will participate in the August 14 rally at Rawalpindi.
Sheikh Rashid said things were moving forward, as the discussions were held in a friendly manner and remained positive. He hoped that a ‘middle way’ would be found on all the controversial points.
Maulana Samiul Haq said the MMA offered to accept Gen Pervez Musharraf in uniform till August, 2004. He said the government also specified a date on which the president would like to lay down his uniform. He did not elaborate. Maulana Fazlur Rahman refused to talk on the issue of uniform.
When the information minister was asked to comment on the date when the president would quit the COAS office, he said he was not mandated as a spokesman to say anything on the issue, but “now that Maulana Samiul Haq has talked about it, I, too, would give the government’s version.”
He said the MMA offered that it was willing to accept Gen Pervez Musharraf as COAS till August, 2004, and then it would elect him as a civilian president. Asked if it meant that the president’s five-year term would start from August 2004, Sheikh Rashid’s reply was: “Of course.”
He said something positive would emerge out of this MMA offer. “When you are negotiating something, every party tries to extract the maximum out of that, and hopefully a middle way would be found.”
Asked if the government had accepted that the LFO was not Govt-MMA talks end on positive note part of the Constitution, Sheikh Rashid did not offer a direct reply. The mere fact that the agenda of the meeting was confined to three contentious points of the LFO should be sufficient for the wise men to conclude what was the status of the LFO, he said.
About the boycott of the PPP and the PML-N, the MMA leaders Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Qazi Hussain Ahmad said they had asked the government to invite them in the next round of talks.
Sheikh Rashid said the MMA leadership had “recommended” that the PPP and the PML-N be invited to the talks, but the government had not yet taken a decision on this.
“The prime minister had gone to Javed Hashmi and Makhdoom Amin Fahim personally, and extended them the invitation, which they had accepted,” the minister said. The decision whether or not to invite them again is “reserved” and would be announced later, he added.
The meeting was attended from the government side by Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Farooq Leghari, Safwanullah, Abdul Razzaq Thaheem, and Sheikh Rashid Ahmad. Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao did not attend.
The MMA was represented by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, Maulana Samiul Haq and Allama Sajid Naqvi. Sajjid Mir, head of a small MMA component, did not attend as he accepted the ARD’s decision.
Asked if there was any possibility of direct talks between President Gen Pervez Musharraf and the opposition parties, the information minister said the same opposition parties had been meeting the president in the past, and if need arose, there was no harm in direct talks. “After all he is president of Pakistan.”