Islamabad, Mar 09: With the opposition parties in no mood to relent on their demand, the pro-military Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali government has expressed willingness to strike a compromise on constitutional amendments by President Pervez Musharraf that vested the military ruler with enormous powers, paralysing the Pakistani parliament. The president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League(Q), Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that both the government and the opposition have decided to hold talks next week to remove their differences on the controversial legal framework order. The LFO incorporated the changes promulgated last year by Musharraf, amending the constitution to legalise the referendum in which he was elected for a five year term and conferred powers on him to dissolve parliament. "We have invited the opposition to hold talks on LFO in order to break the deadlock in the national assembly," he told reporters last night. Hussain said the government was ready to concede some ground to the opposition on LFO but declined to say anything further on the issue.

He said differences persisted over Musharraf's continuation as both president and chief of army despite some consensus arrived at during earlier rounds of talks between the Opposition and the government.

He said the two were also divided on Musharraf enjoying the powers to dismiss parliament and constitute a National Security Council with the military top brass.

Bureau Report