ISLAMABAD, Sept 3: Chairman Alliance for Restoration of Democracy Makhdoom Amin Fahim said on Saturday the alliance had asked the legislators belonging to it to get ready to resign from the assemblies.

Briefing journalists after an ARD meeting at People’s Party Parliamentarians secretariat, he said they had contacted their lawmakers on the possible resignations and all of them had assured them of cooperation in this regard.

Flanked by ARD Secretary-General Zafar Iqbal Jhagra and Information Secretary Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Mr Fahim said whenever the opposition members felt they had reached ‘a point of no return’, they would submit their resignations.

“We are working very seriously on it and after receiving resignations of all the legislators, we will show the same to the media,” he added.

Answering a question, he said the ARD had decided not to boycott third phase of the local government elections despite massive rigging by the government in the first two phases.

He said though the ARD rejected the results of first two phases of the polls, it would not leave the field open to the government.

Without giving any timeframe, the ARD chairman said the opposition had decided to reach the public for launching a forceful anti-government movement.

Mr Fahim said the people had lost confidence in Gen Musharraf and his setup. He called for general elections in the country under a ‘neutral’ caretaker setup.

He said there were reports that the government was planning to enforce presidential form of government in the country but the democratic forces would forcefully oppose the move.

The ARD chairman said there were serious differences within the ruling party and its coalition partners. He added the petition filed by the chairman and members of the Federal Public Service Commission against the government proved that there was no writ of the government in the country.

Answering another question, Mr Fahim said the ARD would participate in a conference of political parties convened by the Jamaat-i-Islami in Islamabad on Sunday (today).

ARD Deputy Information Secretary Munir Ahmed Khan, Coordinator Malik Hakmin Khan and Secretary-General of the Sindh PPP Nafees Siddiqui were present in the briefing.