ISLAMABAD, Aug 15: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has decided to requisition the National Assembly session immediately, indicating to the government that it wants congeniality in the house as well as a continuation of talks on the LFO, sources told Dawn.

“If all went well the next round of talks between the government and the opposition will be held within the next couple of days,” hoped MMA’s deputy parliamentary leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed while talking to Dawn on Friday.

The MNA said he had gathered this impression from the conversation between Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali and MMA secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rehman when they had met at the PM House with the Indian delegation on Wednesday.

He termed Thursday’s meeting between Mr Jamali and President Gen Pervez Musharraf significant, and hoped it would clear the decks for the future round of government-opposition talks.

Besides, a meeting of the MMA’s six party heads on Thursday decided, in principle, not to shut its doors on talks without giving up its stance on the Legal Framework Order.

The meeting, however, expressed displeasure over Gen Musharraf’s reported refusal to directly meet the opposition leadership to break the deadlock despite the fact that during talks with the opposition so far the president’s representatives had not been able to reach any feasible settlement.

The MMA, therefore, asked Mr Jamali to make sure that he resumed talks with the opposition with full decision-making powers and without taking any support from his ‘non-political’ advisers.

The MMA decision to requisition the NA session appears to be part of an understanding with the government. In case the government convenes the session there is little or no hope of disposal of any agenda or legislative work due to opposition’s rumpus. On the other hand, the MMA has planned to give a seven-point agenda for the requisitioned session which includes a debate on the foreign policy and proposed sending of troops to Iraq, said the Hafiz.

According to rules, the government has to complete 130 days of NA sittings in a calender year. But so far, only 42 days’ proceedings have been held during the last nine months.

Presided over by MMA president Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani, the alliance’s supreme council meeting on Thursday was attended among others by its parliamentary leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Fazl, Maulana Samiul Haq, Prof Sajid Mir and Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi.

Sources said Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and deputy secretary-general Liaquat Baloch were assigned the job of contacting other opposition parties in parliament for completion of the requisition process.

Hafiz said the MMA endorsed a unanimous fatwa against sending Pakistan’s troops to Iraq.