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Govt.-Opposition reach accord on Musharraf laws

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD May 2. The Pakistan Government and Opposition parties today agreed to finalise a consensus document on the controversial Musharraf laws within a fortnight.

It is not going to be an easy task given the contentious issues involved and the bad blood within the ruling combine.

The ruling party chief, Shujat Hussain, who was to lead the all-party committee was forced to resign complaining of efforts by some elements to sabotage the effort.

And it certainly does not augur well for the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. It appears that there is a rift between the defectors to the ruling combine from the Benazir Bhutto party and some of the senior functionaries in the Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam).

The differences have become so serious that a section of the ruling party has began wooing the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) as a substitute to the defectors from the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). It would be a major coup for the Jamali Government if it succeeds in roping in the alliance of religious parties.

It would help it isolate the two main opposition parties led by Nawaz Sharif and Mrs. Bhutto who are determined in their opposition to the continuation of Pervez Musharraf as President in uniform.

Thanks to the controversy Pakistan National Assembly has not had a single normal session since it was constituted in November last year. The Assembly had to be adjourned indefinitely on Wednesday pending a settlement on the controversial Musharraf laws.

Last Monday the Jamali Government and the Opposition agreed on constitution of a committee to review the controversial laws. The National Assembly Speaker, Chaudhary Amir Hussain was left with little option but to prorogue the House as the dispute, which disrupted the proceedings, remains unresolved.

It appears there would be some give and take on the contentious subjects. The mood of opposition is such that they would like Gen. Musharraf to come down on the issue of uniform as well as some of the controversial constitutional amendments. However Gen. Musharraf has categorically ruled any compromise on his uniform at this juncture.

As per the pact arrived late on Monday night an 11-member joint committee will draft a constitutional package from the agreeable points of the Legal Framework Order (LFO). It would be submitted to Parliament in the shape of a bill. Indications are that the next session of the National Assembly would be summoned in the third/fourth week of May.

LFO, incorporating several amendments made by Gen. Musharraf, has been the bone of contention.

The dialogue between the Government and the Opposition almost got derailed as Gen. Musharraf declared on the eve of the talks that he would neither quit as Army Chief or as President. He insisted that LFO was part of the Constitution and there was no need to place it before Parliament for ratification.

The committee will have five members each from the combined Opposition and the Government, with the Prime Minister or his nominee being its chairman. It will complete its draft package by May 11. The bill once agreed will be presented in the Assembly.

It is said that the constitutional package will also cover the most contentious issue of the President holding the office of Chief of Army Staff. Later, the MMA's Maulana Fazlur Rahman told reporters outside the PM house that the talks were held in a highly cordial atmosphere but said ``one has to see how much flexibility is demonstrated by the Government.''

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) said the issue of the President holding dual offices was the most contentious one, along with the Article 58(2) b (which empowers the President to dissolve the National Assembly), and added that the main focus of talks was on these two questions.

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