LAHORE, Oct 29: The government may abandon its plan for an all-party conference on the post-quake situation in case the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) decide not to attend it, sources close to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League said on Saturday.
However, they said that before taking a final decision on the subject, the government would make a last-ditch attempt to convince the opposition leaders to attend the conference.
“If most of the invitees refuse to turn up, the host may have to cancel the reception. That’s the only reasonable course of action left for the host,” the sources said.
MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed has already announced that religious parties would not take part in the proposed conference.
ARD chief Makhdoom Amin Fahim held consultations with his ARD colleagues on Saturday night in the light of a telephonic contact made by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. He told Dawn that the alliance’s component parties saw little use in participating in the APC. However, he said, a formal decision on the issue would be taken only by heads of the ARD component parties at Monday’s emergency meeting in Islamabad.
Citing the failure of the government to provide relief to all quake-hit zones, he said the move to call a multi-party conference stemmed from a government desire to shift responsibility on the issue.
The ruling party sources said the government was aware of the mindset of the leadership of the two opposition alliances and was keeping all options open.
But they made it clear that the government was carrying out full-scale relief activities in all quake-hit areas, and would continue doing so in the future as well, despite the fact that opposition parties were trying to find excuses not to join hands with it even at this critical juncture. They said the government was also seeking international assistance for quicker rehabilitation of the victims.
