LAHORE, Aug 24: The Pakistan Muslim League-Q proposed on Sunday that the approach adopted at the time of the passage of the Eighth Amendment should be used as model to resolve the controversy over the Legal Framework Order.
This meant that those points in the LFO which were acceptable to all sides should be validated, while those on which there was a difference of opinion should be amended, Senator S.M. Zafar told Dawn after a 150-minute meeting with a two-member MMA delegation here.
“It was an exchange of ideas, talk about talks,” said the ruling party representative who has been assigned the role of “troubleshooter” at a time when the opposition parties have paralysed parliament because of the LFO controversy.
Mr Tariq Azeem was the other ruling party representative who participated in the talks.
The MMA was represented by Liaquat Baloch and Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, leaders of the Jamaat-i-Islami and the JUI(F), respectively. Both of them are also members of the lower house.
The MMA does not accept the LFO as part of the Constitution and what the ruling party proposed on Sunday indicates little shift in its oft-repeated stand.
The MMA insists that a constitutional package should be presented by Aug 28, as thereafter the leaders of the religious parties alliance would not be available for talks because of their personal commitments.
Mr Zafar, however, said the matter was not raised in talks with him and he was not aware of any deadline set by the other side.
Mr Baloch told reporters that Mr Zafar showed them some documents he had prepared to resolve the controversy. However, he said, the MMA reiterated its stand on the status of the LFO and demanded that it should be brought to parliament. He said the religious parties alliance was not prepared to accept extension in the retirement age of judges of superior courts, the National Security Council in its present form, usurpation of provinces’ rights by the Centre through the Sixth Schedule and discretionary powers of the president.
Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said the MMA did not accept the referendum, through which Gen Musharraf had got himself elected as president. Thus, he said, fresh election of the president was mandatory.
Mr Tariq Azeem said the meeting provided both sides a chance to understand each other’s point of view. However, he said, no conclusion was reached and another round of talks was expected to be held in Islamabad on Monday. He indicated that Chaudhry Shujaat Husain could be present in the talks.
“We have shown all the flexibility needed for the purpose during the past few months,” Tariq Azeem said when asked if the government had softened its stand on the contentious issues in talks with the MMA.
Ahmed Hassan reports from Islamabad: The National Alliance, a conglomerate of six parties led by former president Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari’s Millat Party and an ally of the PML-Q, on Sunday presented a five-point formula to steer the country out of what it called the deepening political stalemate.
Speaking at a news conference, NA’s secretary-general senator Mohammad Ali Durrani said the parliamentary system in the country faced serious dangers owing to what he described as the “undemocratic” and “egotistical” attitude of politicians and their unwillingness to hold dialogue.
Mr Durrani advised the opposition to attend all the conciliatory meetings in the larger interest of the country and democracy to create a consensus.
The formula stressed the importance of setting up a committee comprising both the treasury and the opposition parliamentarians which should work for bringing both sides closer.
The government and the opposition should address the national and international issues in parliament so that the decisions and strategies are brought in line with national aspirations.
The parliament should immediately start the process of legislation in the public interest. Replying to a question, he said he feared that if the political deadlock persisted, the country would once again be derailed from the democratic path and parliament could be blamed for it.