LAHORE, Sept 3: Makhdoom Amin Fahim says there is no possibility of the ARD forming a formal alliance with the MMA, and the two coalitions will continue to function from their respective platforms.

“There is no proposal under consideration to set up a grand opposition alliance. The ARD, the MMA and the PONAM are separate entities, and they will work independently — though for the same goals,” Mr Fahim said while talking to Dawn on Sunday.

MMA leaders have been claiming that a grand opposition alliance is in the offing, and that the time is not far away when the religious alliance and the ARD will be operating from the same platform.

Mr Fahim had come to Pakistan on Sunday after holding consultations with Ms Benazir Bhutto in Dubai, and he returned to the UAE late in the evening for more talks.

The ARD chairman said all opposition parties wanted the restoration of democracy and return of the army to the barracks. For this purpose, he said, they had been struggling from their separate platforms and would continue to do so in the future.

Answering a question about the opposition legislators’ resigning from their seats, Mr Fahim said timing for it would be decided jointly by all opposition parties. He said for the time being, no meeting was being called to discuss the subject.

He said he would not like to offer any advice to the MMA on whether it should part ways with the Balochistan government or not.

“They are a separate alliance. They know the Balochistan situation well. We will not like to offer them any advice,” he said.

The MMA’s Supreme Council is meeting on Tuesday (Sept 5), and the issue of staying in or parting ways with the Balochistan government will be high on the agenda.

Mr Fahim said the situation in Balochistan was the outcome of the military operation. Whatever was happening at present was denting the very image of the institution of the army, he said, adding it was for the army to take steps to rebuild it.

He said initially the ISPR issued all statements about the Balochistan issue, but lately the matter had been entrusted to the civil government, which was not the right decision.

The ARD chairman said the army should seriously think of what it should do to save its prestige and image.—ASHRAF MUMTAZ