PESHAWAR, Oct 3: The opposition parties are scheduled to hold two meetings in the next few days to increase pressure on the government to appoint an independent election commission, it is learnt.

The first meeting has been convened by the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) on October 7 which will be chaired by Makhdoom Amin Fahim in Islamabad.

Sources said apart from other items, the meeting would focus on reservations of small ARD components that the alliance has been hijacked by both the PML-N and the Peoples’ Party Parliamentarians (PPP) and they (small parties) are not taken into confidence regarding the alliance’s strategy.

Besides addressing these reservations, the ARD leadership would also try to develop consensus over the future line of action, particularly in respect of anti government movement likely to kick off after the Ramazan, sources added.

Sources said that the ARD has already reached a consensus over tabling of a bill in next National Assembly session for appointment of an independent election commission. Appointment of an independent election commission has been a major demand of the opposition to ensure fair and transparent elections.

When the ARD central leader Iqbal Zafar Jhagra was contacted for comments, he confirmed the meeting agenda. He said the government had failed to deliver services, address basic problems of people, arrest dearness and maintain law and order situation and all these items were also on the meeting agenda.

Mr Jhagra lambasted the government for failing to control prices of petroleum products and said that this was the responsibility of the government to control oil prices and at the same time work out a long term strategy to address the energy crises.

He also confirmed that the next meeting of the steering committee of the joint opposition would be held on 8th of October, with its acting convener Liaqat Baloch in the chair, in Islamabad and most of the political parties had agreed to attend the meeting.

This time a comprehensive plan would be chalked out to start a combined anti-government movement, probably after the holy month of Ramazan, Mr Jhagra added. He said the movement would be started simultaneously in all the four provinces.

He said that the joint opposition meeting would also discuss the government’s role in rigging in the local body elections and added that the two meeting had been convened just to increase pressure on the government before the general elections to appoint an independent election commission.