ISLAMABAD, Sept 21: The government had proposed to the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal to keep the uniform issue away from the constitutional package for a couple of months, sources told Dawn.

They said a message to the effect was delivered to MMA chief Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani by PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Friday along with the constitutional package.

The PML chief had told the MMA leaders that the government would be in a better position to resolve the uniform issue to the satisfaction of the alliance after it had taken care of some serious difficulties it was facing currently.

The MMA chief was assured that by the time the constitutional bill package was passed by parliament the president would be ready to guarantee that he would relinquish his uniform before Dec 31, 2004.

During his talks with Maulana Noorani, the PML chief had said that the government was sincere in resolving the constitutional crisis.

The MMA leaders, on the other hand, appear to be divided over how to deal with the new situation as hardliners were pressing for ending the talks process and launching a movement with other opposition parties to get rid of the military rule, the sources said.

Maulana Noorani (JUP) and Liaquat Baloch (JI) were optimistic about the outcome of the process, but Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of JUI have rejected the package as being negation of the Lahore agreement.

In a telephonic conversation with reporters from D.I. Khan on Sunday, MMA secretary-general Maulana Fazl said he felt the government was backing out from the points it had agreed on.

The maulana threatened to launch a countrywide movement which, he warned, would uproot the military-led regime. However, he said, the final decision would be taken by the MMA supreme council on Tuesday. Maulana Fazl said it was agreed at the Lahore/Islamabad talks that article 63(d) relating to the qualification of president, would become operative from Dec 31, 2004. But the government, he added, had backtracked from this point in its draft package.

The MMA leader pointed out that the cut-off date of Dec 31, 2004 was accepted by the MMA with reluctance on the insistence of the government, but Gen Musharraf seemed to have disagreed even with this part of the earlier agreement.

REACTION TO PACKAGE: MMA deputy secretary-general Liaquat Baloch told reporters here that the alliance would respond formally to the government’s draft constitutional package on Sept 23, the day when the MMA supreme council is scheduled to meet.