SUKKUR, May 2: The leader of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, on Friday threatened the government with agitation of the masses if the government attempted to impose the Legal Framework Order on the people as neither the president nor the judiciary had the right to amend the Constitution.

He was speaking at a press conference at Sukkur airport before leaving for Larkana, where he had gone to condole the death of the late Maulana Jan Mohammad Abbasi, deputy chief of the JI.

Dismissing the notion that the LFO could become part of the 1973 Constitution and pledging to restore the basic law as it existed on the eve of military takeover on Oct 12, 1999, the MMA leader said that only a sovereign parliament was empowered to make amendments in the Constitution.

He said that the opposition had prepared a seven-point agenda, which would be discussed during the upcoming government-opposition talks to resolve the present crisis before May 11.

Urging the ruling coalition partners to resolve what he called the contentious points included in the agenda as their resolution was vital to the development of a harmonious relationship between the opposition and the government.

Gen Musharraf, Qazi Hussain Ahmed said, should consider their offer to make him the country’s constitutional president “in Sherwani, and not in the army uniform.”

He said that the opposition was not daunted by threats of dismissing the assemblies, adding that if the assemblies were sent packing and elections were held again, the religious alliance would emerge victorious with a greater majority in Sindh and Punjab.

Citing the successes of the MMA-sponsored million-man marches all over the country, he said that there should be no misunderstanding in this regard.

Defending the issue of taking oath under the LFO, he said that it had been done under the “law of necessity” but the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal had never recognized the LFO.

He said that the alliance had contested the elections under the LFO as they needed to reach parliament and revive the 1973 Constitution in the shape it had existed on Oct 12, 1999.

Stressing the need to indemnify what he called the extra- constitutional acts, such as the local bodies elections and other acts performed during the three-year-long period of the Musharraf regime, Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that these acts needed to be ratified by parliament.

He expressed the hope that the government would make efforts for making the talks a success, saying that if bottlenecks were created in their way, the alliance was capable of launching a mass movement.

The MMA leader was received by MNA Asadullah Bhutto and others at Sukkur airport.