ISLAMABAD June 12: The combined opposition in parliament on Monday failed to arrive at a consensus on the charter of democracy and a decision on the matter was left to another meeting scheduled for next week.
The meeting, however, formally announced the nomination of Senator Mian Raza Rabbani as a joint candidate for the post of leader of opposition in Senate and decided to inform the chairman of the Senate about the consensus.
Leaders of the combined opposition termed the consensus a good omen for setting up a grand opposition alliance for launching a joint struggle for restoration of democracy, ending military’s interference in politics, and ensuring supremacy of parliament and constitution.
After a two-hour meeting, held at the parliament house chamber of the leader of opposition in the National Assembly, it was decided to hold a meeting at the residence of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan during the week when ARD chairman Makhdoom Fahim will be back from Dubai.
Interestingly, ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who spearheaded a marathon meeting with Maulana Fazlur Rahman on latter’s residence on Sunday, abruptly left for Dubai apparently to get fresh instructions from PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto.
Those who attended the meeting included, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Liaqat Baloch of the MMA, PML-N’s Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Rauf Mengal of the Balochistan National Party, S.K. Babar of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf, Mehmud Khan Achakzai of the Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party and Shahid Bugti of the Jamhoori Watan Party.
Later, Maulana Fazlur Rahman termed the meeting informal and said opposition leaders had discussed issues related to the upcoming general elections besides considering strategies to limit army’s role in national politics.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the meeting also discussed the charter besides taking up the issue of whether or not to contest polls under a government headed by President Gen Pervez Musharraf.
He said that fair, free and transparent elections were impossible under the present set-up and it was only a matter of setting a timeframe for an anti-government movement.
