LAHORE, April 11: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) has decided to hold a public meeting at Minar-i-Pakistan on April 27 to oppose the referendum being held by the president to seek a vote to extend his term in the office for five years after the October polls.

The decision was taken by the Punjab ARD at a meeting chaired by provincial president Qasim Zia, and in line with a decision taken by the central ARD leaders to “chase the president” in all the districts wherever he planned to address his referendum meetings.

The meeting was attended by ARD provincial general secretary Chaudhry Safdar Rehman, Tehmina Daultana, Nawaz Gondal, Saifullah Saif, Abdul Qadir Shaheen, Munir Khan, Mian Abdul Waheed, Nadeem Rizvi, Naveed Chaudhry and others.

Speaking at a press briefing after the meeting, Qasim Zia said the ARD was of the view that the president was violating the Constitution by holding a referendum to extend his stay in power.

He said referendum, according to the Constitution, could be held only to elicit public opinion on a national issue. The Constitution, he added, had laid down a procedure for the election of the president of the country that should be followed. The referendum, he stressed, would not legitimize Gen Pervez Musharraf’s rule.

The ARD meeting also condemned the language used by the president and ministers and officials against political leaders, including Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.