LAHORE, April 7: Several leaders of the PML-QA, the Tehrik-i-Insaaf, former MPAs and district Nazims met Governor Khalid Maqbool here at the Governor’s House on Sunday to assure their support for the referendum.

Prominent among them were Mian Khurshid Kasuri, Kamil Ali Agha, Humayun Akhtar, Naeem Husain Chattha, Rao Qaisar Ali, Tariq Aziz, Akhtar Rasool, Tariq Bandey, Naseem Lodhi and Kasur Nazim Rana Imtiaz Ahmad.

The governor said the decision to hold the referendum would establish the people’s desire that the government policies should continue for the stability of the country.

He said Pakistan had now entered the second phase of a democratic rule. Political parties would be able to contact their voters during the general elections being held in October. He said the political workers must play their role in advancing all phases of democracy.

The governor said Gen Pervez Musharraf’s election as president for the next five years was necessary for the resolution of all issues, including the Kashmir dispute.

Meanwhile, PML-QA president Mian Azhar, Shujaat Husain, Fakhar Imam, Pervez Elahi, Tehrik-i-Insaaf’s Hafiz Khan, Mian Sajid Pervez and Umer Farooq, Millat Party’s Abdul Qayyum Awan and Mian Afzal Hayat also called on the governor.

They assured the governor all-out support for the referendum and for president’s first public rally at the Minar-i-Pakistan on Tuesday.

They gave proposals for making the referendum and the public meeting a success, assuring that their party workers would vote for the president and attend the gathering at the Minar-i-Pakistan.

The governor also presided over a meeting of the coordination committee constituted to make arrangements for the public meeting at the Governor’s House in the evening.