30 October 2004	Saturday	15 Ramazan 1425

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PESHAWAR, Oct 29: The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy's bid to bring the Awami National Party (ANP) into its ranks could not materialize after the two sides failed to agree to a common minimum programme, sources told Dawn.

Though ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan supports the ARD on various issues in the Senate, the Pukhtoon nationalist party did not enter into an agreement with the alliance to launch a joint struggle outside parliament after some ARD leaders showed reluctance to accept ANP's demands on provincial autonomy.

ARD leaders led by the head of the People's Party Parliamentarians, Makhdoom Amin Faheem, had first contacted the ANP about a year ago for forginga formal association to pursue common political goals.

During a meeting at the residence of Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, senior vice-president of the ANP, ARD leaders had formally invited the ANP to a joint struggle against President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

The two sides remained engaged for some time and several meetings took place between leaders of the two parties. However, sources in the ANP said an agreement could not be reached because of ARD's refusal to accept some of the demands made by the Pukhtoon nationalist party.

While the ARD wanted the ANP to cooperate with it in its struggle against President Musharraf, the latter was of the opinion that the cooperation should not be limited only to the extent of removing President Musharraf.

The ANP was of the view that cooperation between the two parties should also include a struggle for provincial autonomy and making Pakistan a true federation in line with the constitutional provisions.

"The ANP told the ARD that just removing President Musharraf would not resolve the problems and issues confronting the people of Pakistan. For this, the two sides should work for enforcement of constitutional provisions pertaining to provincial autonomy," an ANP leader said.

The ANP leaders, the party sources said, wanted assurances from the central leadership of the ARD, which they could not get because of the reluctance of the PML-N. "The PPP was ready to accept the ANP's stand on provincial autonomy but it was the PML-N whose leaders were not ready to share our ideas," said a senior ANP leader.

Asfandyar Wali's call - made at a press conference about two months back - to political parties to agree to a common minimum programme (CMP) also failed to elicit any response from mainstream political parties.