ISLAMABAD, July 11: The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy has expressed the hope that Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leaders will not hold talks with the government if Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali extends invitation only to them instead of calling a meeting of all party heads.

Talking to Dawn, Senator Farhatullah Khan Babar of the People’s Party Parliamentarians alleged that the government had renewed its efforts to divide the opposition but, he added, these efforts would also fail.

He said the MMA had assured the ARD that it would not hold separate talks with the government and “we have no reason to doubt their assurances”.

Talking to Dawn, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) acting president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi claimed that an effective protest campaign launched by the opposition parties had forced the government to decide on resuming the talks.

Mr Hashmi said the prime minister had made the talks offer after listening to the speeches during the no-trust motion against the deputy speaker in the National Assembly.

“When the prime minister realized that the opposition parties were united and firm on the LFO issue, he invited them for talks,” he said.

The PML-N leader said the opposition parties had accepted the offer at once to show flexibility. He said it was the government which had avoided talks and not the opposition.

The acting PML-N chief reiterated that the opposition would not allow Gen Musharraf to address the joint session of parliament without resolving the LFO issue.

He said the opposition parties were firm that the LFO could not become part of the Constitution unless the National Assembly approved it with a two-thirds majority.

He said the MMA, too, had the same stand and there was no underhand deal between it and the government. He described as a coincidence the restoration of an MMA MNA’s membership by the Supreme Court at a time when the government was about to invite the opposition parties for talks.

Mr Hashmi said the government wanted the opposition to withdraw its call for a public rally on Aug 14, but it would not do so.

ARD parliamentary group’s secretary Izhar Amrohvi criticized the government for allegedly trying to create a rift in the combined opposition by giving impression that it would hold talks only with the MMA.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Amrohvi said it would be difficult for the MMA to compromise on any of the issues as it had publicly promised to continue its struggle against the LFO and president’s uniform.

Asked how the ARD members parties would react if the MMA decided to hold separate talks with the government, he said in that case they would wait for the outcome of talks. If the MMA succeeded in compelling the government to bring the LFO to parliament then they would welcome it, he added.

Mr Amrohvi said he had held a telephonic conversation with MMA leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed in Karachi on Friday and added that he had assured him that the MMA would not take any decision unilaterally.

He said the opposition parties were waiting for the prime minister’s invitation. Sources said the prime minister would invite the opposition parties for talks on July 18.