November 7, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 1,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 6: The fast-changing political scene of the country took a dramatic turn on Wednesday, diminishing the prospects of an agreement between the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), and raising hopes for a possible deal of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) with the government.

With the announcement of government decision to postpone the inaugural session of the National Assembly for about a week, ARD chief Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan started establishing contacts with his allies to convene an all parties conference (APC) on emergency basis.

The sources close to the Nawabzada said the date and venue of the APC would be decided after consultation with the ARD component parties and other organizations traditionally attending APCs in the past. However, they disclosed that it would most likely be held on Sunday.

The political developments on Wednesday also cast deep shadow of doubts over the agreement reached at between the ARD component parties and the MMA for fielding joint candidates for prime minister and speaker.

The delay in the holding of the National Assembly session, according to some political sources, has been made to give yet another chance to the PPP and the pro-government PML-Q for reaching an agreement on the formation of a “stable” government.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who had been striving for government of national consensus from day one, held a secret meeting with PML-Q parliamentary leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Tuesday evening.

The PML-Q as well as the PPP would not officially confirm or deny the meeting held between the two leaders. Fahim, who was visibly shying away from making a final announcement of agreement thrashed out between the ARD and the MMA under the supervision of the Nawabzada, once again intensified his efforts for the government of national consensus.

It is believed that under the deal, Asif Ali Zardari would be released soon. A bail application of Zardari in BMW case is coming up for hearing in the Lahore High Court on Thursday.

The political circles in Islamabad are rife with reports that Zardari would get bail in the case. This, they said, would be nothing less than a first indication of the deal between the PPP and the government.

The narcotic case against Zardari would come up for hearing on Monday. Source close to Fahim said he would get bail in this case as well and later released.

As regards to the conviction of Zardari in Steel Mills case, the sources say he has already completed the term in jail and it is only a matter of interpretation.

Some PPP lawyers contend that the period of six years which Zardari has spent behind the bars, if calculated under the jail rules, comes to about 28 years.