LAHORE, April 12: The secretary-general of the ruling PML-Q here on Monday added his voice to the PPP-Patriots proposal that Gen Pervez Musharraf should continue to stay as army chief even after December 31, the deadline set by the 17th constitutional amendment.

Mr Salim Saifullah Khan said while talking to a group of reporters at the Muslim League House that for the sake of unity of command and to keep the centres of power as fewer as possible, parliament should review the amendment under which the general should step down as COAS by the end of the year.

He said the more the centres of power, the greater the difficulties in running the system, and in case President Musharraf had to take off his uniform, a clash between the new army chief and the president was bound to take place. He said to prevent such an eventuality, parliament should extend Gen Musharraf's tenure at least by a year.

When it was pointed out that his argument contradicted the government's logic behind the establishment of the National Security Council, the PML-Q leader said the NSC had its own utility.

He said the army had always played a role in governance and the NSC would ensure that there was no chance of misunderstandings between the political and military leadership.

Complete transfer of power to the civil authority had never taken place and any assumption to the contrary would be misplaced, he said. When suggested that the ruling coalition did not have the required two-thirds majority to extend the tenure of Gen Musharraf set through a constitutional amendment, the PML-Q leader said fresh efforts would have to be made to muster more support.

In response to a question, he said he had opposed the idea of restricting Gen Musharraf's term to a particular date when the 17th amendment was being discussed in parliament.

Asked if he could point out any other parliamentary democracy where the president was as powerful as in Pakistan and where the president was simultaneously the army chief, Mr Salim Saifullah Khan said Egypt, Malaysia and Indonesia could be taken as examples.

He said Gen Musharraf had run the country very ably during difficult periods and his services should be praised. A reporter invited Mr Khan's attention to the prime minister's statement in Faisalabad that the question of Gen Musharraf's uniform had been settled and the president would go by his word, the PML-Q secretary-general said he had his own perception (which might be different from that of Mr Jamali).

He said the party's central working committee would take up the matter at a meeting. Earlier, addressing party workers, the PML-Q leader said the ruling party should patronize its workers as generously as the MMA was doing in the NWFP and the PPP had done during its tenures.