ISLAMABAD, Oct 13: Leaders of the victorious political parties in the Oct 10 polls, which has thrown up a fractured mandate, have started arriving in the Capital for meeting with each other to explore the options of forming coalition governments at the Centre and provinces.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who has already named the parliamentary leader of the PML(Q) after grabbing the largest number of seats in the National Assembly (NA) and Punjab Assembly, arrived here on Sunday.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim, leader of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) which won the second largest number of seats in the NA and is the leading party in Sindh Assembly, is already in Islamabad.

Shah Ahmad Noorani, chief of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) which has stood third in the election for the NA seats while sweeping the NWFP Assembly polls and emerging as the leading party in Balochistan Assembly, is due here on Monday.

MMA deputy chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad was scheduled to arrive here on Sunday along with Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Qazi Hussain and Amin Fahim are also scheduled to meet on Monday at breakfast.

Mr Fahim has already declared that his party is prepared to talk to every one, including General Musharraf, for the stake in the future parliament.

Shujaat Hussain, on the other hand, has also declared the same and is likely to seek an early meeting with the MMA leadership.

So far, the PPP and PML(Q) leaders have neither made any contact publicly nor there is any indication that they have approached each other behind the scene.

The focus of the nation, however, is on the MMA leadership because this alliance of the six religio-political parties holds in its hands the balance of power in the new National Assembly.

One of the two major parties in the NA, whichever could succeed in winning the support of the MMA, would be able to make a coalition government effortlessly.

Indications are that the MMA would negotiate with the two major parties on the basis of two minimum acceptable points— restoration of 1973 Constitution and complete sovereignty of the parliament.

Most of the major parties in the MMA like the Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam ( both factions) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan had put their signatures on the 1973 Constitution. Therefore, the alliance’s demand that this constitution should be restored in its original shape does not appear inconsistent with their past position on the issue.

During the elections, the religious bloc has been demanding that the Army should go back to the barracks. Therefore, its demand that the elected parliament should be completely sovereign, and that there should be no supra constitutional body over and above the parliament is also consistent with its declared position.

The PPP and PML(N) will not find it difficult to accept these two points as they have also been demanding the restoration of 1973 Constitution and the withdrawal of the army from the politics.

But the PML(Q) will not find it easy to agree with the MMA on these two points because of its perceived ‘ideological’ proximity with President Musharraf who has brought about a number of fundamental changes in the 1973 Constitution and who intends to continue to occupy the Presidency for the next five years while retaining the cap of COAS.

Apparently, the Mujlis-i-Amal does not want to push Pakistan into any kind of political crisis by making radical demands, and it has also declared that it would like to make the country an investment-friendly region. Therefore, it is safe to assume that in the give-and-take process, that is going to take place in the coming days and weeks, it would dilute most of its otherwise ‘extreme’ demands.