ISLAMABAD, Sept 19: MMA president Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani announced convening of the supreme council meeting of the alliance on Sept 23 to discuss the proposed draft amendment package delivered to him by PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Friday evening, and to adopt a line of action.

The package was approved by the cabinet earlier in the day.

Informed sources said the ruling coalition assured the MMA leader during the brief exchange of views that talks on the question of the president’s uniform were continuing, and a positive result was possible in a short time.

The way has been paved for the presentation of the constitutional package before parliament for debate and assent by a two-thirds majority, a senior MMA leader told Dawn.

While Chaudhry Shujaat was accompanied by federal ministers Liaqat Jatoi and Syed Safwanullah, the MMA chief was assisted by Liaqat Baloch in around one hour’s talks between the two sides.

Talking to newsmen on this occasion, Chaudhry Shujaat said the package provided solution to all the contentious issues which included the ones on which both sides could not agree in Tuesday’s party heads’ meeting.

Maulana Noorani said the MMA’s position was known to the nation as “we do not accept the LFO a part of the Constitution” but to support continued democratic process “we are engaged in talks for the last ten months.”

Mr Shujaat said both sides had held talks by maintaining their respective stands. “While we said the LFO is part of the Constitution, they said it was not.”

He, however, said that “we want and will give a good package to the nation’s satisfaction.”

“There were no two opinions about parliament’s sovereignty, and that both the treasury and the opposition were its pillars,” he remarked.

He said “in our opinion” the president’s army uniform “is a settled issue.”

Maulana Noorani said the country’s security demanded that “we have a full-time COAS, and not a part-time one.” Similarly, he stated, the Constitution “does not allow a government servant in grade 22 to become president.”

At this juncture, Chaudhry Shujaat interjected, saying: “President Musharraf has sworn before us that he would leave the army office”.

When this correspondent sought their reaction on the draft package delivered to them, both Maulana Noorani and Liaquat Baloch refused to offer any.

They said it was premature to offer comment until the details of the package were thoroughly gone through and discussed in the MMA’s supreme council meeting.

Before this development took place, both the MMA and the ARD’s component parties had held two separate, joint press conferences.

The combined opposition told reporters after their walkout from the lower and upper houses of parliament that they were chalking out a joint strategy for launching a mass movement in the country “to dislodge Gen Musharraf from power, restore sovereignty of parliament and sanctity of the Constitution.”

MMA president senator Maulana Noorani told a joint news conference of combined opposition in the upper house that since 48 hours given to the government to obtain the approval of the president for the proposed constitutional package had expired, he was slamming the doors on any further talks with the government.

Later, at the joint news conference addressed by the combined opposition in the National Assembly, MMA’s deputy secretary general Liaqat Baloch said: “We have had enough talks with the government on the LFO and the issue of president-in-uniform, and Tuesday’s talks were final from our side.

The ARD component parties appealed to the MMA to abandon the “fruitless” and “inclusive” talks and join hands with it to launch a unified struggle to ensure restoration of undiluted democratic order.

The opposition took serious notice of the purported warning from the corps commanders issued after their last conference to accept the LFO or reject it without amendments. “This is clearly a move to intimidate the opposition leaders but we refuse to budge from our stand,” declared Javed Hashmi of ARD and Liaqat Baloch of MMA.

Giving details of Tuesday’s party heads’ meeting at the prime minister’s house, he said Prime Minister Jamali had sought 48 hours from the MMA after both sides agreed on almost all the contentious items of the LFO and the government wanted a final word from Gen Musharraf before making an announcement.

Mr Baloch said the MMA had proposed to the government to refer to the electoral college for election of the president since the referendum through which he was elected was unconstitutional.

He said: “We also told the government in plain words that unless the proposed amendment package was presented in parliament for assent by a two-thirds majority the LFO will remain controversial and unacceptable to the opposition.”