LAHORE, April 8: A majority of the component parties of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD)have indicated support for plans to turn the 16-party grouping into an election alliance and urged Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif to take a decision on the matter at the earliest.
Representatives of these component parties said at a meeting here on Saturday that a decision on such an election alliance would convey a message to the electorate that opposition parties were united and serious about taking on the ruling party candidates in the general elections.
They said that the regime’s policies posed a serious threat to the country, the exiled leaders and opposition parties, and an election alliance could better deal with the situation.
However, ARD Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who is also president of the PPP, told a news conference after the meeting that no decision had so far been taken about converting the ARD into a poll alliance.
He said the ‘joint opposition’ would make a collective decision about taking part in the elections in the absence of the two exiled former prime ministers. However, he said, the ARD was directing its supporters to prepare themselves for the polls.
Mr Fahim denied that [US Assistant Secretary of State] Richard Boucher had asked the ARD to stay away from “fundamentalists”.
The ARD meeting was held at the residence of Nawabzada Mansoor Khan.
Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Begum Tehmina Daultana, Qasim Zia, Nafees Siddiqui, Munir Ahmed Khan, Naveed Chaudhry, Malik Mushtaq Awan, Malik Hakimeen Khan, Rana Nazrur Rehman, Munir Husain Gilani, Manzoor Gilani, Rana Zulqernain, Nawaz Gondal and Pir Nau Behar Shah were among the participants.
Mr Fahim, accompanied by Raza Rabbani and some others, will be meeting Mr Sharif in London on April 14 and discuss with him matters concerning his proposed meeting with Ms Bhutto.
In the presence of Gen Musharraf and the present government, the ARD chief said, “free and fair elections” could not be expected.
He said Gen Musharraf had publicly shown his leaning towards the ruling PML by participating in its meetings and urging voters to support this party in the polls.
Mr Fahim said the chief election commissioner should stop Gen Musharraf from taking part in the ruling party meetings.
He said the ARD expressed had serious concern about threats to the country’s integrity. He was critical of the “kill or be killed” policy being followed by Gen Musharraf to handle the situation in Balochistan and Waziristan.
Warning against the disastrous consequences of such a policy, the ARD chief said the solution lay in political dialogue.
He demanded that the exiled leaders should be allowed to return home and take part in the electoral process. He also sought the release of political leaders like Javed Hashmi, Syed Yousaf Reza Gilani, Khwaja Saad Rafiq and Zaeem Qadri.
He alleged that the sole function of the National Accountability Bureau was to blackmail the government’s political foes and pointed out that the bureau had dropped investigations into the sugar scam when it transpired that influential people in the government were also involved.
He also called for steps to disband the institution.
Referring to reports that non-commissioned military officials would be appointed by the Punjab government, the ARD chief said it was a move to rig the elections. Mr Fahim told a questioner that it was premature to say whether the ARD would make electoral adjustments with the MMA.
