LAHORE, Feb 22: Ruling PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Husain on Sunday ridiculed both the opposition alliances, the ARD as well as the MMA, for their respective demands about fresh elections under the supervision of a government of national consensus and holding of a conference with an invitation to the two exiled former prime ministers.

Talking to Dawn, he said these alliances posed no threat to the government even if they joined hands and launched a movement. They had been together even in the past, he said, implying that they would not be in a position to create any problem for the government despite cooperation.

The ARD, in a sudden change in its point of view, has started demanding fresh polls under the supervision of a government of national consensus. The MMA, on the other side, has called for a conference to discuss all important national issues facing the country. The religious alliance also demands that Mian Nawaz Sharif and Ms Benazir Bhutto should be allowed to participate in the proposed moot.

Chaudhry Shujaat recalled that immediately after the general elections he was the first to propose the formation of a national government to resolve the LFO controversy. But, he said, the ARD had rejected the proposal for its vested interests.

Then, he said the ARD interest in the national issues also stood exposed when its leaders refused to attend a briefing organized by the government on the sensitive issue of nuclear proliferation.

He said now the country faced no crisis and thus the call for a government of national consensus was simply irrelevant. As for fresh elections, Chaudhry Shujaat said it was regrettable that opposition parties were demanding the dissolution of the assemblies when they should enable them to complete their constitutional term.

About the ARD's plans to launch a movement against the government, Chaudhry Shujaat said the opposition alliance had no issue to exploit.

In response to a question, the PML chief disclosed that the government was actively considering to appoint Maulana Samiul Haq and his son Hamidul Haq as chairmen of the standing committees in the Senate and the National Assembly, respectively. In case other MMA parties too were interested in getting such jobs, the government could consider their request, he added.

The PML president preferred to ignore Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Husain's demand that provinces should be given the status of states and the powers of the federal government be curtailed to empower the federating units.

He said unless the demand was formally made, he would not like to take up the matter with the Muttahida leadership despite the fact that the MQM was now an ally of the PML.

He was of the view that at present the provinces enjoyed unprecedented autonomy while the states Mr Altaf reportedly wanted to set up had dictatorial systems.

About the expansion of the federal cabinet, Chaudhry Shujaat said the matter was under consideration. He said he wanted at least 15 PML legislators inducted in the cabinet as Punjab was under-represented at present.

The PML president saida session of the National Assembly would be convened immediately after Ashura and a bill for the establishment of National Security Council would be moved even before a debate on the president's address to the joint session of parliament.