PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is learnt to have rejected the three-point formula put forth by two Presidential aides to ensure a smooth relationship between the new government and President Pervez Musharraf.
Islamabad, Mar 27 : PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is learnt to have rejected the three-point formula put forth by two Presidential aides to ensure a smooth relationship between the new government and President Pervez Musharraf.
The first of the three points was that the Presidential camp wanted to see Article 58(2)B intact, while the second mentioned that the President also wanted to let the National Security Council (NSC) function.
The third and the final point of the formula was that the Parliament should take Aiwan-e-Sadr, or President's House, into confidence on the legislation to be made by the Lower House of Parliament to avoid clash between the Chief Executive and the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
One of the two Presidential aides who carried along the formula was Tariq Aziz, who came to Zardari House and had a detailed meeting with him.
The duo also reportedly expressed their concern over the way the Parliamentarians had behaved on the eve of oath taking of the newly elected Prime Minister at the Awan-i-Sadr and the deliberately abstinence of the leadership of the ruling alliance from the oat-taking ceremony. They stressed that such moves could create mistrust between Parliament and the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari made it clear to the visiting aides that 'Parliament is a supreme body and we all, including the President of Pakistan, must respect it,' The Nation quoted PPP sources as saying.
He also told the aides that all institutions should work within the ambit of the Constitution and should not infringe on the powers of the other institutions, they said.
"Presidential aides made it clear to the PPP leadership that the confrontation could start, if Aiwan-e-Sadr was not taken into confidence while taking decisions on the major policy matters. The US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher suggested to the PPP leadership that they should avoid confrontation with Awan-i-Sadr," the sources said.
ANI