Islamabad, Aug 20: In an attempt to break the stalemate in Pakistan's Parliament forced by parties opposing his continuation as chief of Army, President Pervez Musharraf has decided to face the opposition head-on by addressing a joint session of the Parliament. Musharraf, who had earlier said that he would not like to face an "uncivilised" Parliament, has changed his mind and asked Prime Minister Zafraullah Khan Jamali to work out a strategy for him to address a joint sitting of Parliament, reported a local daily.
The opposition, protesting against Musharraf holding two hats, has blocked parliamentary proceedings for the past 10 months.
So far, Musharraf has been putting off his mandatory address to the joint session in order to avoid a direct confrontation with opposition. The country's main political parties, which were agitating to end the military stranglehold and re-establish democratic rule, want Musharraf to take back his Legal Framework Order (LFO), an administrative order issued by him before last year's referendum to legalise his election as President, and constitutional amendments brought in by him to vest himself with powers to dissolve Parliament.
While the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) headed by exiled former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif want him to quit the presidency and get elected by parliament and provincial assemblies, the six-party Islamist alliance Muthahida Majlis e-Amal (MMA) has asked him to quit the post of chief of Army within a year as a compromise. Bureau Report