LAHORE, April 14: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s request to political parties to accept the LFO and Gen Pervez Musharraf as president was spurned by PPP secretary-general Jehangir Badr on Monday, saying if the general’s right to amend the Constitution was acknowledged, the executive authority could use the precedent in future as a justification to alter the basic law according to its whims.

At a news conference at his residence, his first after being released by the Supreme Court on bail in corruption cases, he said a genuine democracy would not return if an individual’s right to amend the Constitution, bypassing the parliament, was accepted.

He called upon the rulers to follow the world practice on the subject and let the parliament decide what changes needed to be incorporated in the Constitution.

Badr, a law graduate, refused to give weight to the argument that for the sake of national unity opposition paties should accept the LFO and the presidency of Gen Musharraf. “This is a constitutional issue, having nothing to do with national unity”.

In response to a question, the PPP leader said his party had its own decision-making process, not essentially similar to that of the MMA’s. “We take our own decisions, without being influenced or impressed by others”.