ISLAMABAD, Aug 10: Leaders of combined opposition parties on Thursday said they were considering lodging an FIR against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for his ‘involvement’ in corruption.

Leaders belonging to the People’s Party Parliamentarians, Pakistan Muslim League-N and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal were speaking at a news conference after the National Assembly speaker refused to allow a debate on the detailed judgment of the Supreme Court in the Pakistan Steel Mills privatisation case.

The opposition leaders asked the prime minister to resign.

They feared that the SC verdict could lead to dissolution of assemblies under Article 58-2(B) of the Constitution.

Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan of the PPP said the prime minister should have resigned on June 23 when the SC had announced a short order. However, he pointed out, the prime minister had asked the nation to let him continue till the release of the detailed judgment.

He claimed that some elements were stopping Mr Aziz from quitting and added that those people were, in fact, hatching a conspiracy against parliament. He said that the same ‘uniformed people’ who were supporting Mr Aziz now would handcuff and arrest him.

Khwaja Asif of the PML-N rejected a statement by Gen Pervez Musharraf that the corruption had been eliminated at the top level. He said the cases that had come to light over the past six months were enough to prove that 80 per cent of the corruption was committed at the highest level.

In reply to a question, ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim said they were considering lodging a case against the prime minister.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of the MMA asked the National Accountability Bureau to take action against the prime minister, Privatisation Commission and the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP). He said corruption references may be filed against the cabinet members.

Syed Naveed Qamar, a former chairman of the Privatisation Commission, recalled that when the apex court had announced the short order the prime minister had said that the government was waiting for the detailed judgment and action would be taken against the responsible people. He said the SC held the CCOP responsible for the flawed process of the PSM privatisation and the prime minister was directly responsible for it being the head of the CCOP.

He said the same charges were also applicable against rulers in the privatisation of the Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Ltd and the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation.

Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Liaquat Baloch, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Sherry Rehman and several other leaders were present.