KARACHI, June 12: President of the PPP-Parliamentarians Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who is also chief of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), was to leave for Dubai on Monday night for important consultations with the party’s chairperson, Ms Benazir Bhutto, though he cited ‘personal reasons’ for the journey.

Political circles attach great significance to his visit that comes ahead of the planned meeting of the ARD in London. At the meeting, heads of ARD component parties are supposed to ratify the Charter of Democracy, signed by Ms Bhutto and PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif.

Makhdoom Fahim, who has been advocating an end to the present military-led dispensation and accusing it of having excelled in rigging, as well as subverting peoples’ will and constitution, categorically rejected reports that he was travelling to Dubai with any proposal from the Establishment.

“I am going to see my son there… it is absolutely baseless and mischievous to say that I am carrying any new set of proposals for the government,” said the ARD chief. He claimed that such reports were being circulated by vested interests to create misunderstanding among the ARD components because, according to him, the regime was unnerved.

However, insiders, citing the evolving political situation, insisted that the visit was of great importance. In this context, they referred to S.M. Zafar’s statement on ‘exit strategy’ and Gen Jehangir Karamat’s remarks on the state of democratic dispensation in Pakistan.

Makhdoom Fahim said that the Charter of Democracy was a major breakthrough towards restoring democratic dispensation in the country and closing the doors on frequent military interventions and dictatorships.

He claimed that the government was unnerved because the signing of CoD, under which the PPP and PML-N had undertaken to take along all democratic forces, had initiated a lot of movement.

He pointed out that the charter called for complete provincial autonomy and provided for restricting army’s role to what had been enshrined in the 1973 constitution.

He was of the view that in the presence of the present government, it was impossible even to dream of a free, fair and transparent election. “Such an election is possible only under an independent and autonomous election commission and an interim government,” he added.