Islamabad, Aug 26: In a veiled threat, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today said that the Parliament and the assemblies would have to be dissolved and fresh elections would have to be held, if opposition parties carried on with their agitation against him and his constitutional amendments. Speaking to reporters at Hyderabad in Pakistan's Sindh province, Musharraf said that if the Legal Framework Order (LFO) issued by him before the last year's polls was not acceptable to opposition parties then the only way out would be to declare the elections null and void and hold fresh elections. Besides declaring his election through the referendum as legal, the LFO also incorporated various amendments brought in by Musharraf, which were rejected by opposition parties. "I do not understand this talk against LFO. If the order is to go the elections held in October last year would be null and void and we would have go to for fresh polls," he said.

Referring to the agitation by the opposition parties, he said that he would also not quit as chief of army as proposed by the Opposition as a compromise. His comments followed amid rumours of differences between him and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali over dealing with the Opposition agitation.

The opposition parties which continued to disrupt the Parliament said they would step up the agitation if Musharraf hardened his stand.
Bureau Report