ISLAMABAD, May 25: Almost all the parties in the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy on Thursday endorsed the charter of democracy signed by former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in London on May 14.

Speaking at a news conference after a meeting of the heads of the component parties, ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim and secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said parties in the ARD had ‘fully endorsed’ the charter through a resolution and they would sign it in London on July 2.

Later, Mr Jhagra told Dawn that representatives of 12 of the 15 parties in the alliance attended the meeting. The Jamhoori Watan Party, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (Fazal Karim) and the Pakistan Christians’ Party did not attend the meeting. He said the absence of the parties did not mean that they opposed the charter and they had missed the meeting because of other reasons.

The resolution passed in the meeting stated that the ARD component parties “affirm their commitment to undiluted democracy and universally-recognised fundamental rights, the rights of a vibrant opposition, internal party democracy, ideological and political tolerance, bipartisan working of parliament through a powerful committee system, a cooperative federation with no discrimination, maximum provincial autonomy in the ambit of the 1973 Constitution and empowerment of people at the grassroots level.”

Mr Fahim said the ARD had chalked out a plan to arrange seminars and corner meetings throughout the country to highlight the importance of the charter. He said the ARD would request religious leaders to pray for the success of the charter during Friday prayers.

He said there was no writ of the government in any part of the country.