December 21, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 29, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

LAHORE, Dec 20: Separate meetings of the People’s Party Parliamentarians and the parties in the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy will be called in the near future to take a decision on an all-party conference proposed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

PPP president and ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim told Dawn on Wednesday that dates for the two meetings would be set after a schedule for the APC was announced.

Mr Sharif has proposed a five-point agenda for the APC and he will personally talk to various leaders to explain the objectives of the conference and extend them an invitation.

Mr Fahim said his party would not oppose an idea floated by Mr Sharif. However, he said, the PPP and the ARD would discuss the initiative at their respective meetings to formulate their stands.

Apparently, the PPP has a different point of view from that of the PML-N on the issue of tendering resignations and launching a movement. Their stands on taking part in the election in the presence of Gen Musharraf are also not similar.

Mr Fahim said the ARD would also exchange views with PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) leader Mehmud Khan Achakzai.

PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq said any decision taken collectively by opposition parties would be in the national interest.

He said that the APC would provide the opposition parties with an opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of various options and then decide which card should be played when and how.

Raja said decision on tendering resignations from the assemblies, launching a movement, or participating in or abstaining from the elections while Gen Musharraf was still dominating the political scene would be taken by parties taking part in the proposed APC.

“Unanimous decisions will yield better results”.

Answering a question, the PML-N leader said the PPP had a history of not compromising with dictatorship and he believed that it would stick to its principles this time as well.