ISLAMABAD Dec 26: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s negotiating team will meet the government team before the start of the lower house session on Saturday to try to make it acceptable for the MMA.

The same team earlier on Friday rejected the 17th amendment bill when it was tabled in the National Assembly, contending that it looked as if the LFO had already become part of the Constitution and calling for incorporating the entire 29-point LFO in the constitutional amendment bill.

Prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali himself went over to the opposition benches to ask the MMA’s acting president Qazi Hussain Ahmed to let that the alliance’s team to reconcile on points which they wanted to be incorporated in the bill.

PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, minister of state for parliamentary affairs Raza Hayat Hiraj and MNA Nasrullah Dareshak also met the MMA leadership after the session was adjourned and tried to convince them to accept the bill in its existing shape.

The MMA also objected to the inclusion of the reference regarding the National Security in the constitutional bill, saying it was against the agreement.

They said that they would not accept it as part of the Constitution but wanted it to be subservient to parliament to be set up through an act of parliament.

Their second objection was that an amendment in Article 179 of the Constitution by which the age of the Supreme Court judges was sought to be reduced while Article 195 concerning the high court judges gave the impression that the said articles were already part of the Constitution through the LFO.

Earlier, Senator S.M. Zafar said, while talking with newsmen, he had achieved a “complete agreement” with the MMA on all points of the bill by consulting MMA’s negotiators Liaqat Baloch and Hafiz Hussain Ahmed.

“I told them that I will go by the agreement signed between the two sides and will not allow anyone to ignore anything”.

He said the bill, on which he had gotten the MMA leaders’ initials late Thursday night, comprehensively covered all the articles of LFO.

Talking to this correspondent, Liaqat Baloch expressed his optimism that the problem would be solved during the meeting of the two teams.

He said controversial articles, which had been inserted despite being pointed out by the MMA team, ought to be rectified.

He said that the MMA team was assured that the bill contained all articles of the LFO and which were not enumerated in the bill were incorporated in Article 270AA.

MNA Liaqat Baloch said: “During the previous discussions, we made it clear to the government’s side that 22 points on which the MMA had already agreed must also be made part of the amendment bill but it was not done.”

Expressing optimism regarding having brought the bill in parliament, he said: “We are committed to support the government on providing a two-third majority on agreed points.”