ISLAMABAD, June 26: Amidst preparations by the government and the opposition to show their strength during voting on the no-trust motion against the National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain, hectic efforts for defusing the tension have also begun, sources told Dawn.

“The government emissaries were on the move to establish contacts with the important members of the opposition, in particular those belonging to the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal,” the sources claimed.

The cabinet in its meeting on Thursday endorsed the proposal for resumption of talks with the opposition given by an emergency meeting of the ruling coalition, presided over by Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Wednesday.

MMA leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed dismissed speculations about withdrawal of the motion following an offer of talks at this juncture.

The parliamentary groups of the ruling and opposition parties are due to hold their meetings on Friday to demonstrate their strength and finalize their strategies about the motion.

The People’s Party Parliamentarians, the MMA and the PML (Nawaz) will meet at Parliament House in the morning to finalize their strategy for the special session summoned for Saturday.

National Assembly members of the ruling coalition would be invited to a dinner at Parliament House or Prime Minister’s House, PML-Q Vice-President Kabir Wasti said.

Shujaat Hussain remained engaged in consultations with President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s power brokering team.

He was trying to convince the powers that be that the ruling coalition leaders were unanimous on resumption of talks with the opposition, sources said.

An MMA leader was also said to have met some top government functionaries and he might bring some fresh suggestions to the opposition.

He told Dawn that MMA Secretary-General Maulana Fazlur Rehman and MNA Maulana Ghafoor Haideri would return from France on Friday.

He dispelled the impression that Maulana Rahman had left the country under an understanding with the government to sabotage the motion.

There were reports that the government might invite the parliamentary parties’ heads to a meeting that was promised by Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali after he received the report of the constitutional negotiation committee on May 23.

Asked about the chances of resumption of talks, Hafiz Hussain said the government appeared non-serious about dialogue as indicated by the prime minister’s declaration of the LFO as a part of the Constitution.

He said the opposition would only be ready to discuss the replacement of the speaker by a neutral person.