Speaking at a reception given in honour of the Committee at the National Press Club on Monday, he said the federation would face a severe crisis if the 18th Amendment was not implemented in letter and spirit.

He said that members of his Committee were ready for talks with lawyers who had reservations on certain provisions in the amendment relating to judicial appointments.

Mr Rabbani rejected certain elements' contention that the 18th Amendment needed to be approved by a constituent assembly rather than a normal assembly and said that these people did not raise such questions when the infamous 8th and 17th amendments were passed under dictatorial regimes.

He said the 18th Amendment guaranteed solidarity of the country and any deviation from it would shatter the confidence of smaller provinces whose representatives had signed the document.

Ishaq Dar of PML-N said every citizen had the right to take the 18th Amendment to the Supreme Court which was constitutionally empowered to interpret it.

He said he genuinely hoped that Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry would not like the country to go back to the status quo, adding that people should wait for the apex court's verdict, instead of showing anxiety.

He advised the law minister to register an FIR against former president Gen Musharraf and let his party to take the entire credit for the 18th Amendment and the NFC award.

Law Minister Babar Awan said that Pakistan's Constitution could not be compared with those of Australia and India, because those countries were secular democracies while Pakistan was an Islamic country.

He said that in all fairness the PPP government should be given the credit for the success of its reconciliation policy, which helped evolve a consensus on the amendment.

Rehmatullah Kakar of JUI-F said that by signing the amendment, the politicians had corrected their mistakes and warned against any move to push the country into another crisis in the name of interpretation.

Haji Adeel of ANP said his province could have never got a new name without the support of two largest parties to his party's demand.

Aftab Sherpao said that several political parties were not satisfied with the quantum of provincial autonomy envisaged in the amendment and that efforts would be continued for more amendments.

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi, Haider Abbas Rizvi of MQM, Humayun Saifullah Khan, Ahsan Iqbal, Abdur Rahim Mandokhel and Nasir Zaidi attended the reception.