ISLAMABAD, July 12: Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said on Monday that committees of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) would in future oversee local welfare projects under a "division of work" system that will allow his would-be successor Shaukat Aziz to devote to economy and good governance.

In a panel interview with Dawn, he credited last month's change in prime ministers to the system given by President Pervez Musharraf. The prime minister, who took the office on June 30 and is due to quit it after Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz's expected election to the National Assembly on Aug 18, explained some of the objectives he wants to achieve during the short time at his disposal and called for pursuing a policy of dialogue to settle internal problems as well as the Kashmir dispute with India.

But he side-stepped questions on whether President Musharraf would give up his office of the Chief of the Army Staff by the deadline of Dec 31 incorporated in the Constitution. He ordered tea when pressed for an answer about the president's uniform during the interview at the Prime Minister's House.

In what he called 'a new experiment' in line with his policy to ensure supremacy of the party over government, the prime minister, who is also the PML president, said party committees would prepare and oversee the implementation of local development schemes in a departure from the previous practice of allocating development funds to parliamentarians for their constituencies.

A PML committee "will sit and decide... that in Gujranwala or such and such area such and such things should be done such as water supply, Sui gas, or any other requirement," he said. "And the discretion for this will not be with the prime minister but the party committee will decide."

Even in constituencies where the PML did not have an assembly member, he said a party committee would decide about welfare projects. The prime minister dismissed a suggestion that such an arrangement could give rise to opposition objections, specially in areas where opposition deputies were elected. "We will undertake development of that area," he said and promised that the process would be transparent.

DIFFERENCES UNDER JAMALI: Mr Shujaat said differences of PML legislators led to the departure of former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali, who resigned on June 26 after being in office for about 19 months.

He said the process took about two months during which President Musharraf consulted almost all party members in the National Assembly - a deviation from the past practice where prime ministers were just thrown out of office despite their public claims of "bravery" but acquiescence in private.

"Whoever has been in office they said they are brave people, whether Benazir or Nawaz Sharif, this was hypocrisy," he said of the past and added that the present system would guard against the path of confrontation and provided a framework in which "all should work in their respective field".

Talking about the president's consultations with assembly members about the working of parliament, he said almost 90 per cent of them complained about a policy of "likes and dislikes" in development work.

"If it is done at the high level, it will permeate to lower level also.... some getting 10 crore (rupees) and some only 10 lakh," he said. "There was a dissatisfaction (and complaints) about favouritism and loyalty to certain lobbies."

As one manifestation of difference of opinion in the party, he cited Mr Jamali's proposal to become PML secretary-general besides being prime minister, which he said would have made "my position akin to that of (former figurehead president) Fazal Elahi".

But, he said, President Musharraf resolved the issue through consultation rather than dictation. "The method of consultation adopted by the president is better than dictation," he said and added that the continuation of this system would eliminate the chances of dissolution of assemblies.

Mr Shujaat said the president's thinking was that prime ministers should give economic programmes and be spared of political blackmail, specially when a ruling party had only a thin majority.

Enabling the future prime minister to give more time to economy and good governance and keeping party matters separate would not mean that "we will go against each other", he said and added that "there will be a division of work".

The prime minister did not agree with a suggestion that politicians could repeat the past practice of approaching the army for political change once President Musharraf leaves the army office.

"There will be no need of going there. What was a hidden partner in the past is now a part (of the system)," he said in a reference to the 13-member National Security Council (NSC) that includes heads of the three armed forces.

While avoiding to answer questions about when the president would give up his army uniform, the prime minister accused the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal of violating what he called a commitment it made to support the NSC bill in parliament in return for the president's promise to give up as army chief by Dec 31.

But he said he did not mean to say that "we should also defy (the constitutional provision). He said he had always been of the firm opinion that nobody "should interfere in their (military's) system" and recalled that he gave the same counsel when former prime minister Nawaz Sharif asked him, besides other party associates, about appointing an army chief of his choice during his first term when Ghulam Ishaq Khan was the president.

Mr Shujaat said he had retained former prime minister Jamali's cabinet as a matter of continuity because he was to remain in office for a short period.

SHORT-TIME TASKS: Asked about the targets he had set for his prime ministership, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said he wanted to accomplish a few things including reformation of madressahs, passage of laws by parliament to guard against slander and misuse of loudspeakers at mosques to spread sectarianism.

He said the government would help the madressahs if they introduced programmes and syllabus to imbibe the real Islamic and moral values in their students. He said he wanted an anti-slander law that would allow an aggrieved party to go straight away to a high court, make the slanderer accountable but spared newspapers reporting such statements, and kept the prevalent defamation law intact.

Mr Shujaat said the MMA had assured him cooperation in formulating a law to curb sectarianism. He said he also wanted to pursue a process of dialogue at every level and in every matter whether it was the question of violence in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or Kashmir, or nationalists in Sindh and Balochistan.

In reply to a question, the prime minister said he thought that no political leader had yet emerged who had a countrywide following from the Khyber Pass to Karachi. Asked if there was any plan to give party leadership to President Musharraf after he gave up his army chief's post, he said the president had not given any hint whether he would enter politics. But, he said, it would not be something which could not happen.

NFC DEADLOCK: The prime minister said the deadlock over the new National Finance Commission (NFC) award among the provinces was being removed through active consultations.

However, he said he did not believe it was the failure of the finance minister to get the new award finalized because of lack of political skills. "In fact the NFC had become a political issue rather than just a resource distribution matter among the federating units," he stated.

The prime minister said he wanted to resolve the NFC issue during his tenure as the prime minister but then hastened to add:" Let Shaukat Aziz sort this issue out once he becomes the prime minister in August this year."

He said he held useful discussions with the Sindh government over the NFC issue when he was in Karachi recently. Since Sindh was more vocal in seeking a 50 per cent share for the provinces, he thought it fit to resolve this old issue instantly.

"But it would be good if we wait for a little more time to have the new resource distribution formula in place," he said. However, he said, he would make sure as PML president after leaving the prime ministership that all the four provinces got good share and no issue was left unresolved in this behalf.

"The NFC issue is being expedited and I am taking a personal interest in it," he said. The prime minister was asked whether it was not the test of the finance minister to prove his political sagacity and wisdom to resolve the NFC issue but he failed to do so.

"I am sure that Mr Aziz has the ability to become an effective prime minister and deal with political and economic issues including that of NFC." Responding to a question, the prime minister agreed that without improving the law and order situation, it would be difficult to attract local and foreign investment in the country.

He admitted that he could not improve the law and order situation during his brief stay in power and said it would take some time to achieve the desired results in this behalf. "I do not want to sound very optimistic about every thing including the law and order situation."

But he said the law and order situation needed to be improved with the help of all the stakeholders. He was of the view that the federal and provincial governments would have to play their due role in improving the situation.

About consistency in government policies, the prime minister said that the private sector should continue to be taken into confidence for improving the overall economic situation.

Talking about providing a relief to the common man and tackling widespread poverty, he expressed the hope that Mr Shaukat Aziz would take up these issues after becoming prime minister.

He regretted that sufferings of the common man had not reduced and said: "I as the president of the ruling party would see to it that the federal and provincial governments devise some good strategy to provide a relief to the oppressed classes." He was of the view there was a need for a very innovative strategy to deal with the issue of poverty.

KASHMIR ISSUE: Mr Shujaat said Pakistan and India both needed to abandon the beaten track and move beyond their stated positions to reach a settlement of the Kashmir dispute.

In response to a question about the ongoing dialogue process with India and discussions on the core issue of Kashmir, he said: "If Pakistan continues to say Kashmir is its jugular vein and India maintains Kashmir is its Atoot Ang (integral part) then the Kashmiris will continue to die."

The Kashmir issue should not be made a hostage to politics in both the countries, he said. When quizzed about the possible solution of the Kashmir dispute and how far Pakistan was willing to go, he said: "Even if an unpopular decision is taken but which is in the interest of the Kashmiris and is not against Pakistan's national interest we should have no reservations (to accept it)."

He, however, made it clear that any decision taken on Kashmir had to be acceptable to Kashmiris and take into account their aspirations. Vouching for President Musharraf's commitment and sincerity to the cause of Kashmiris, he said the president was more sincere than his critics.

"President Musharraf truly feels for the Kashmiris and wants to see a final settlement of the issue," the prime minister said, pointing to the elements of boldness, sincerity and flexibility advocated by the president in this regard.

He was of the view that the normalization process with India would move ahead decisively if both the sides observed these key elements. He said the president had demonstrated an unparalleled will and motivation to resolve the Kashmir issue.

The prime minister said Pakistan wanted to pursue friendly relations with Afghanistan, acknowledging that these had been tense at times. Reckoning that the situation in Afghanistan was still volatile, he said he was mindful of the occasional finger-pointing towards Pakistan from that end.

The prime minister indicated that he would take up some issues with Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah when the latter calls on him during his visit here. However, the prime minister did not specify the issues.

NAB: About his concept of bringing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) under the judicial system, he said he meant to say that people belonging to judiciary should be associated in its working.

He said those belonging to the judiciary could join the bureau to make its working comprehensive and systematic. Asked about opposition's allegations that NAB was being used as a tool for political victimization and whether this impression could be changed, he said: "We also said similar things when we were in opposition," and added: "That's why I keep on saying that those who were in power must also be included in the accountability net to make the process more effective."

He rejected opposition's allegations of pre-poll rigging in the two constituencies from where Mr Aziz was contesting elections.

"There will be no rigging because we are sure that Shaukat Aziz will win in free, fair and transparent polling." He said no serious candidate had come to confront Shaukat Aziz either in Attock or in Tharparkar.