LAHORE, Sept 22: The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy will decide on Thursday (Sept 25) whether to treat the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal as an ally or an adversary.
The decision will be taken in the light of the outcome of the MMA meeting to be held in Islamabad on Tuesday (today). The Constitutional package approved by the federal cabinet and handed over to the MMA to examine its acceptability will be the major subject of discussion at the six-party alliance meeting.
In case the MMA accepts the LFO or finds some way for cooperation with the government, it will be alienating the ARD which opposes both Gen Musharraf and his LFO. But the collapse of the MMA-government talks may clear the way for the ARD-MMA cooperation and the two alliances may hold joint public meetings to mobilize the masses.
The MMA has been examining the constitutional package for the past few days, but so far it is not clear whether it will ultimately accept it. Various leaders have been giving divergent views about the package, some of them raising hopes that the MMA may accept it and others scuttling any such notion.
All MMA components will offer their respective views at the Tuesday meeting after which a consensus decision will be taken.
A central ARD leader closely monitoring the situation said on Monday that there was little hope for an MMA-government agreement. He believed that some ruling party leaders had engaged the MMA in prolonged talks to confuse the masses.
The final word on the LFO, he said, had already come — and it was from President Pervez Musharraf. The president had said in explicit terms that the LFO was part of the Constitution and in case it was withdrawn, the entire system raised by it would also come down. He also refused to give a timeframe for leaving the COAS office.
The president’s opinion was supported by corps commanders, who according to some reports, were of the view that the LFO could not be changed and the MMA would either have to accept it in its entirety or reject it in toto.
The ARD is opposed to the MMA’s talks with the government, specially when they are in conflict with some declarations issued at the all-party conferences attended by the religious parties.
Interestingly, though the ARD is opposed to Gen Musharraf and his LFO, and it talks of seeking to strengthen parliament and the prime minister, its proposed movement will be against the entire system.
“The present system is nothing but continuation of martial law,” said an ARD leader.
