ISLAMABAD, June 2: Several legislators belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-N have expressed concern over Pakistan People’s Party’s decision to abandon the Kalabagh dam project without taking their party into confidence, although it was part of the ruling coalition.

At a parliamentary party meeting held here on Monday, the legislators are also reported to have objected to the PPP decision of appointing Salman Taseer as the Punjab governor.

According to sources, they stressed the need to increase cooperation between the two parties to discourage anti-democracy elements.

The sources said that some of the legislators severely criticised the ‘unilateral’ decision of scrapping the Kalabagh dam project without discussing the matter with them or in parliament.

PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif said the party was sitting with the treasury to protect the PPP from horse-trading and it would support or oppose on merit all government’s decisions, including the federal budget, in parliament.

He directed the MNAs to support the lawyers’ long march on June 10 to press their demand for reinstatement of the deposed judges.

He briefed the party MNAs on salient features of the proposed constitution amendment package prepared by the PPP.

He reiterated that the PML-N wanted the judges to be reinstated in accordance with the Murree Declaration.

He said the party had constituted a committee led by its chairman Raja Zafarul Haq to assess the package. The first meeting of the committee is expected to be held on Tuesday. The PML-N will send its written proposals to the PPP after discussing the draft in detail.

Mr Sharif said the PML-N would accept the package only if it ensured restoration of the Constitution to the position of Oct 12, 1999.

APP adds: PML-N spokesman Siddiqul Farooq told a TV channel that the party would endorse all those clauses in the package which reflected the mandate given by the people in the elections.

He said the PML-N was against indemnifying the actions taken on Nov 3, 2007, because the people of the country had given a clear mandate to undo those steps.

Indemnity to the steps would mean maintaining the status quo, while the people wanted a change in the system, he said.

He said it was the responsibility of the leadership of the coalition parties to respect the mandate of the people in letter and in spirit.

Replying to a question, he said the PML-N, despite having reservations about the PCO judges, had agreed to accommodate them in the interest of the coalition. He said the five judges of the Supreme Court who were part of the pre-Nov 3 judiciary and who had taken oath under the Provisional Constitution Order should return to their previous position while the newly-inducted judges should work as ad hoc judges.

He said regularisation of the ad hoc judges could be considered by the judicial commission envisaged in the Charter of Democracy.

The spokesman said there would be no problem in getting the constitutional package approved in parliament if it was in line with the mandate given by the people. A consensus package could be approved by both the houses within a week, he said.

PML-N leaders Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Khwaja Mohammad Asif and Ahsan Iqbal and legal experts Khwaja Haris and Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim are members of the party’s committee led by Raja Zafarul Haq that will study the draft of the package.