LAHORE, Feb 3: The fate of the Multi-Party Conference (MPC) of opposition parties proposed to be held in London is likely to be decided when People’s Party Parliamentarians president Makhdoom Amin Fahim meets Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Nawaz Sharif in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday to discuss the former prime minister’s initiative to bring all the opposition parties on the same platform.
Mr Fahim told Dawn on Saturday that the PPP wanted the conference to be held under the auspices of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy.
Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Husain Ahmed had said recently that his party would participate only if the conference was hosted by the PML-N.
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) secretary-general Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri told Dawn that his party was of the view that since the conference was Mr Sharif’s idea, he alone should organise it.
He said the matter had not come under discussion on the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s platform. He said the MMA would stay intact whether any component of it attended the conference or stayed away.
The JUI-F central executive is due to meet here on Sunday to discuss a host of issues, including the party’s policy on the conference and participation in the National Assembly session beginning on Tuesday.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, discharged from hospital after undergoing angioplasty on Saturday, will preside over the meeting if his health allows.
Mr Fahim, when asked about the participation of the MMA or its major components, said several conferences had achieved their targets in the past without the participation of various parties.
He said the MMA and the ARD were free to take independent decisions.
He did not spell out his party’s policy in case the conference was held by the PML-N.
PML-N sources said that the conference could be held both from the PML-N or the ARD’s platform and that Mr Sharif would be able to convince the PPP and the MMA leaders to participate without reservations.
“We want to take Benazir Bhutto along,” they said.
