LAHORE, July 2: ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim on Friday ruled out the possibility of cooperation between his alliance and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, saying that the religious bloc was an ally of the government and working to disintegrate the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy.

Speaking to Dawn, he said MMA's conditional offer for cooperation was a well thought-out plan to deal a fatal blow to the ARD. The religious bloc wanted the alliance to put up incarcerated PML-N leader Javed Hashmi as opposition's candidate for the office of prime minister against Chaudhry Shujaat Husain.

He said the MMA leadership had calculated that the People's Party would not accept the proposal and, as a result, the PPP and the PML-N would part ways. Had the religious alliance been sincere in putting up a joint candidate against Chaudhry Shujaat Husain, it would not have named Javed Hashmi and left it to the ARD to propose a suitable candidate, he argued.

The ARD leader said that now there was no chance of any future cooperation between the two alliances. In reply to a question, Mr Fahim said the ARD would not let Shaukat Aziz to get elected unopposed. "He's a friend, and we'll not leave him alone," the ARD chairman said in light vein.

However, he said, a policy in this regard would be worked out at the ARD meeting to be held in Lahore on July 5. Answering another question, he said the ARD would not give up its struggle for democracy with the 'change of face' in Islamabad.

"Ours is a principled stand. We'll continue to follow our principles," he said. Asked how the ARD would restore what it called democracy, the alliance chief said: "With the help of the masses."

He said the ARD was an 'unarmed' alliance of political parties pitted against an enemy equipped with all kinds of weapons. Thus, he said, it was not a fight of two equals. But at the same time, he said, the ARD would not abdicate its cause.

When it was pointed out that the ruling party enjoyed majority's support in the National Assembly and in this situation the ARD was left with no justification to try to dislodge the government, he said everyone knew what foul methods had been used to make up the majority.

Asked if the general expressed desire to meet them, what the ARD legislators would do, Mr Amin Fahim said: "A democratic attitude will be reciprocated in a democratic matter".