ISLAMABAD, 15 May 2003 — Having failed to reach a consensus, the Pakistani government and opposition will submit separate proposals to each other Friday on constitutional changes made by President Pervez Musharraf last year.

Five members from each side are discussing the thorny issue as part of a committee under the chairmanship of National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain.

The government and opposition members have been holding talks since May 2 on the controversial amendments that gave sweeping powers to Musharraf last year. The changes, made under the Legal Framework Order (LFO), have been strongly criticized by the opposition.

The committee members are formulating collective recommendations on the articles on which they share common views. “While on the rest, they will be submitting separate proposals,” opposition negotiator Hafiz Hussain Ahmed told IANS.

Two members of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), two from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and one from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are representing the opposition.

The committee was to finalize its task yesterday. But in the wake of persisting differences of opinion, the deadline has been extended to Friday. Speculations are rife that the committee too will fail to yield the desired results.

Tuesday’s meeting, chaired by Speaker Hussain, continued for four hours. A source privy to the deliberations said the committee had completed work on the legal and constitutional status of the LFO and the holding of two offices by President Pervez Musharraf.

Musharraf who got a five-year presidential term last year through a controversial referendum also holds the office of chief of army staff.

An opposition leader said a top-level meeting would be held, after the committee finalized its proposals, to settle the controversy over the “uniformed” president. Requesting anonymity, he said top government and opposition leaders should be part of the meeting.

On Friday, the committee will present copies of their proposals to Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and the opposition leadership. They will be tabled in Parliament for validation by a two-thirds majority if both sides agree.

While the PPP and PML-N outright reject Musharraf as president, the MMA says it can back Musharraf if he quits as chief of army staff. Prime Minister Jamali is expected to hold a crucial meeting with Musharraf to discuss the proposals of the committee. Sources say it will be a make-or-break meeting on the LFO controversy.

It is also likely that before being submitted to the president, the proposals will be thoroughly looked into at an emergency meeting of ruling coalition partners.

The sources say with each passing day, pressure is mounting on the committee, particularly ruling coalition members, to come to an understanding with the opposition on the LFO.