ISLAMABAD, Oct 8: The heads of component parties of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) have formally elected Makhdoom Amin Fahim as chairman and Makhdoom Javed Hashmi as president of the alliance.

This was announced by People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) president Amin Fahim and Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) acting chief Javed Hashmi at a news briefing after a meeting of the ARD at the PPP Central Secretariat here on Wednesday.

The ARD leadership had failed on Tuesday to elect its new chief due to differences between the PPP and the PML-N when the latter demanded restructuring of the alliance and presidentship of two provinces.

Sources told Dawn that the matter was resolved following the intervention of Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mr Nawaz Sharif, who talked to their respective representatives in Pakistan and asked them to develop a consensus on the matter to save the alliance from disintegration.

The sources said the matter was settled when the PML-N withdrew its demand for presidentship of two provincial and agreed to rename the post of senior vice-chairman as president.

“Amin Fahim has been appointed as chairman in place of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan and we all will continue to work together in consultation with each other,” announced Mr Hashmi, adding: “I say it with open heart that the ARD leadership is in the hands of Makhdoom Amin Fahim and the decision has been taken unanimously with no one disagreeing.”

The PML-N leader said a slight change had been made in the ARD structure and he had been given the responsibility to work as president of the alliance. There was no other change in the alliance’s structure or office-bearers at central or provincial levels.

Mr Hashmi reiterated that the alliance would continue the mission of the late Nawabzada and intensify its efforts to end dictatorship from the country.

He stressed the need for unity among political parties and the people to get the country out of present crises. “An usurper is still ruling the country and we are to fight against his dictatorship,” he added.

PUBLIC MEETING: Earlier, the newly-elected chairman of the alliance, Mr Amin Fahim, said the ARD was starting a mass contact drive to fulfil the wishes of the late Nawabzada by holding a public meeting in Peshawar on Oct 24.

He said the next meeting of the heads of ARD components would also be held in Peshawar on Oct 25.

Mr Fahim termed the death of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan a national loss.

He said the ARD had been restructured on the request of the PML-N. Stressing that the alliance was united on the issues of the Legal Framework Order (LFO) and sovereignty of parliament, he said they had pledged before the nation that they would make efforts to get the 1973 Constitution restored.

Criticizing the superior judiciary for “validating every military rule on the excuse of the so-called doctrine of necessity”, the ARD chairman said: “This will not be tolerated any more and the judges should also be tried under Article 6.”

Meanwhile, interviews with some of the PPP leaders revealed that there was resentment among them over the decisions regarding the alliance’s new setup as they believed that the PML-N had been given all key posts despite the fact that it had only 18 MNAs as compared to 59 of the PPP.

Out of six important posts, five are with the PML-N. Javed Hashmi holds two offices of president and parliamentary leader of the ARD, Tehmina Daultana is the vice-president as well as a candidate for the deputy opposition leader, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra is the general secretary and Syed Zafar Ali Shah is the information secretary of the alliance.