LAHORE, July 30: President Pervez Musharraf is under no obligation to shed his military uniform by Dec 31, highly placed ruling party sources said on Friday.
The sources told Dawn that there was "no binding legal obligation" on the president to step down as army chief by the end of the year.
The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, which had joined hands with the ruling party in the adoption of the 17th constitutional amendment, insists that President Musharraf is bound to take off his uniform by the end of the year.
The alliance says that the relevant article of the constitution, which enables the general to simultaneously hold the dual office, is under suspension at present but will become operative with the advent of the new year.
This, the MMA argues, will make it mandatory for the general to give up one of the two caps he has been wearing for the past few years. The ruling party sources counter this assertion, saying: "There's an ambiguity in the relevant law. And, therefore, Gen Musharraf is under no obligation to give up the army post".
The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy says that it is unconstitutional for an army chief to become the president or the president to hold the office of the COAS at the same time.
ARD Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim and MMA Secretary-General Maulana Fazlur Rehman say that they will wait till Dec 31 for the general to meet the requirements of the 17th Amendment before deciding a future course of action.
PAGARA ISSUE: The ruling party has directed Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim to contact Pir Pagara so that differences may be settled. However, the party has made it clear that no office-bearer of the Sindh organization would be changed.
The sources said that since Pir Pagara was supporting President Musharraf, prime minister-designate Shaukat Aziz and the democratic system, he would 'ultimately' come to terms.
"There's no fundamental conflict of interests between the government and Pir Pagara", the PML sources said, hoping that the Sindhi leader would review his decision.
Pir Pagara had parted company with the ruling party a few days ago, reviving his faction of the Pakistan Muslim League (Functional). He had declared that Chaudhry Shujaat Husain was no longer the president of the party and that the PML(Functional) would work independently.
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