LAHORE, Feb 25: Veteran PML-Q leader Senator and jurist S.M. Zafar says the new parliament cannot 'invalidate' everything done by President Musharraf since Nov 3.

"I don't see how the holding of the election by a president, who acted in pursuance of the assumption of power under PCO, would not be taken care of in one way or the other", he said while talking to Dawn on Monday.

He was asked what would be the likely consequences in case the PPP and the PML-N, the parties that are preparing to form government at the centre, refused to give constitutional cover to several steps taken by the president since the imposition of emergency rule on Nov 3.

A former law minister, Senator Zafar said: "There will be questions relating to validly appointed judges to the Supreme Court and the high courts. While some appointments may not be treated as valid, many would appear to be validly done".

Both the parties, the PML-Q leader said, would be faced with the problem similar to the one that was confronted by the parliamentarians who were elected in 1985 and 2002 and they, in their wisdom, had decided to clear the deck by resorting to constitutional amendment and passing the Eighth constitutional amendment.

He said irrespective of the jurisprudential and constitutional objections "the prudence demands that the parliament exercising its supremacy should declare whatever it wants to declare as invalid and give validity to whatever would help the onward march towards fuller democracy".

He said this could be better decided by a parliamentary committee and then taken up in the form of constitutional amendment. Such a course, he said, would bring to an end the entire controversy, enabling the nation to start afresh without any baggage of the past.

Asked what was the difference between what was done in October 1999 and November 2007, he said: "In terms of our constitutional history there's quite a lot of commonality between the two situations. The action of Oct 12, 1999, was called emergency, not martial law. Likewise, the action in 2007 was also called emergency because of its harshness and undesirability at the time it was imposed."

He recalled that the action of Oct 12, 1999, was approved in Syed Zafar Ali Shah's case while the action of Nov 3, 2007, had also been approved by the present Supreme Court following the principle set in the Zafar Ali Shah case.

In the Zafar Ali Shah case, the former law minister said, the Supreme Court had allowed the chief executive (as Gen Musharraf was then designated) to make amendments in the Constitution, if necessary.

In the present case, he said, the apex court had also allowed Mr Pervez Musharraf (designed as president) to make constitutional amendments.

“After getting verdict from the Supreme Court and before the restoration of the Constitution which was suspended on Oct 12, 1999, Gen Musharraf had promulgated Legal Framework Order along with Article 270AA, validating all his actions, including constitutional amendments. Likewise, President Musharraf who had suspended the Constitution on Nov 3, before restoring it passed the PCO and president order, including 270AAA validating his actions, including constitutional amendments".

Asked to predict the situation that can arise in case the sacked judges of the superior courts were reinstated and those working at present were asked to quit, he said: "I find that the two major political parties have agreed to cut the Gordian knot by mutual consultation in the parliament".

He said he would prefer the new ruling coalition to handle the matter.

Asked whether an un-elected person could become prime minister or chief minister, as being claimed by the PM L-N, he said it was not possible under the Constitution.

However, he said, "a person who is not a member of the National Assembly can be appointed a minister but he must get himself elected as a member of the lower house of parliament within six month.