December 27, 2003	Saturday	Ziqa’ad 3, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 26: A meeting of the heads of the component parties of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) will be held here on Sunday to chalkout future strategy of the alliance.

ARD parliamentary secretary Izhar Amrohvi told Dawn that the alliance had constituted a six-member committee to review each and every clause of the amendment bill, tabled by the government on Friday after reaching an agreement with the MMA.

He said the committee comprised ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, acting parliamentary leader of the PML-N Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Chaudhry Aitezaz Ahsan, Senator Raza Rabbani, Senator Latif Khosa and Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Meanwhile, a source told Dawn that a meeting between the ARD and the MMA was held at the farm house of Makhdoom Amin Fahim on Thursday.

This was the first formal meeting between the leadership of the two alliances in the last one month.

According to the source, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Liaquat Baloch represented the MMA while Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Raza Rabbani represented the ARD.

The leaders of the two major opposition alliances discussed in details the proposed constitutional package and presented their respective points of view.

The source said the MMA leaders briefed the ARD about their talks with the government and the reasons for accepting most of the conditions set by the government.

The ARD leaders, he said, conveyed their grievance that they were not taken into confidence by the religious alliance before finalizing the deal with the government.

The ARD leaders told the MMA that they could not support the constitutional package as it was against the basic structure of the 1973 Constitution and it would create political instability in the country.