LAHORE, June 5: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal alleged on Thursday that conflicting stands on contentious LFO issues taken by government representatives in separate talks with the MMA formed the major obstacle to a positive outcome.

Briefing the press, after an emergency meeting of the coalition, secretary-general Fazlur Rehman said the impression was that the army was a disciplined institution, but during several rounds of talks between the MMA and the leaders of various intelligence agencies, it was found that every negotiator from the government side had a different viewpoint to offer as a result there was utter confusion and no progress was made in the talks.

“We don’t know how many lobbies there are in these institutions,” the MMA secretary-general said, expressing his disappointment over the situation.

The meeting, with MMA Chief Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani presiding, was held at a local hospital to ensure the participation of Jamaat-i-Islami Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who is under treatment there for the last few days. The news briefing was held at the residence of the MMA information secretary.

Pir Ijaz Hashmi, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Liaquat Baloch, Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi, Prof Sajid Mir, Riaz Durrani and Haji Abdur Razzaq were among the participants.

Maulana Noorani reiterated the alliance’s demands, announcing public meetings in Sargodha and Karachi for June 10 and 20, respectively. In case the government still did not give up what he called palace intrigues, the alliance would announce its future course of action, which would include a call for a march to Islamabad.

The MMA chairman praised the alliance government in the NWFP for adopting the Shariat Bill, and appealed to the nation to observe Friday (today) as a thanksgiving day. He said Islamic laws should be enforced all over the country.

About the appeal filed before the Supreme Court challenging the eligibility of MMA leaders to become members of assemblies, Maulana Noorani said the matter had been settled 28 years back but had been raised now only to blackmail the religious parties’ alliance.

He made it clear that the alliance would engage no lawyer to defend the case. At the same time, he said, the judges of the Supreme Court had “ceased” to hold their judicial offices as they had still not taken oath under the 1973 Constitution despite its revival. Also, Maulana Noorani pointed out, the judges had been favoured by the government with a three-year extension in their retirement age.

Maulana Noorani said the MMA would not change its principled stand on various issues, no matter what pressure tactics were used by the government.

He said under the Constitution, Gen Musharraf could not become president unless he first retired as COAS and then waited for two years before offering himself as a candidate. But the MMA had shown flexibility in its stand by allowing him some time before he gave up his military responsibilities as it wanted to facilitate a solution to the impasse.

Maulana Fazl alleged that the National Reconstruction Bureau chairman was also behind the resignations of the NWFP district nazims.

According to him, the NWFP chief minister had shown a better performance compared to his counterparts in other provinces. Maulana Noorani said the federal government owed Rs16 billion to the NWFP government in royalty or share in other funds.

Mr Liaquat Baloch said the opposition’s steering committee would meet in Islamabad on June 7 to decide its strategy for the budget session.

He said its protest would continue during the budget session, although modalities would be decided by relevant leaders.

He said the opposition was keeping its doors open for talks to resolve the LFO controversy.