LAHORE, Nov 16: The Pakistan Muslim League of Mian Nawaz Sharif proposed on Friday that PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto should delay the all-party conference she plans to hold on Nov 21 and, before setting a new date, should clarify her position on the four issues raised by Mr Sharif in a letter.

PML(N) Chairman Raja Zafrul Haq told Dawn on Friday that the two former prime ministers had held a two-hour telephone conversation on Thursday night, but the PPP position on the issues remained unclear. “And unless the PML(N)’s questions are replied satisfactorily, the party will not attend the APC,” he said.

He said in the present situation not many parties would be attending the conference and it would become a fruitless exercise.

Mr Sharif wants the PPP chairperson to demand the reinstatement of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and other judges, restoration of the Constitution as it was in October 1999, withdrawal of the PCO, lifting of the state of emergency, complete press freedom and free and fair elections under an independent and effective Election Commission, before expecting the PML-N to participate in the conference.

The PPP and the PML-N were together in the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy for about seven years. But they parted company in July when the PML-N decided to form a new alliance — the All Parties Democratic Movement — which the PPP did not join because of its reservations about religious parties being its components.

Raja Zafar said US Assistant Secretary of State John Negroponte was in Islamabad and reportedly he would try to resolve differences between Gen Musharraf and Ms Bhutto. And if the PPP chairperson agreed to work with the military leader, he said, a decision by other parties to attend the PPP-sponsored APC would put them in an embarrassing situation.

He said the parties in the APDM would take a decision about participating, or otherwise, in the APC, and this was not possible at this stage because of differences between Jamaat-i-Islami and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf.

In his opinion, the best course for the PPP leadership in the present circumstances was to delay the APC for some time.

Replying to a question, Raja Zafar said his party would not accept any decision of the present Supreme Court about eligibility of Gen Musharraf for the office of president for another term.

He said his party would never accept the revival of the infamous doctrine of necessity.