ISLAMABAD Nov 15: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) has said that it will shortly convene the party’s supreme council to discuss the situation arising out of the passage of the Protection of Women’s Rights bill.

“We have decided to consult our legal advisers and religious scholars to see whether or not the reservations expressed by the government-appointed panel of ulema have been addressed. We will then take a decision [on resigning from assemblies],” said Maulana Fazlur Rahman, leader of opposition and MMA secretary-general, while speaking at a press conference after the passage of the bill here on Wednesday.

In a recent meeting of its supreme council, the MMA had announced that it would quit the assemblies if the government passed the PWR bill without addressing its reservations.

MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed and deputy parliamentary leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, who attended the NA session for a short while, were conspicuous by their absence at the press conference.

Maulana Rahman said the statement of Chaudhry Shujaat on the floor of the house clearly pointed to confusion within the ruling party on the bill. Even then, the government refused to summon ulema to satisfy the two sides in the house, he added.

After consulting ulema, the MMA might bring another bill to amend the PWR bill, he said.

MMA’s deputy secretary general, Liaqat Baloch, said the supreme council of the alliance would be convened soon.

He said that at a meeting in the speaker’s chamber on Wednesday, Maulana Rahman had asked Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to delay the NA proceedings till the ulema were consulted again to determine whether or not the amendments suggested by the bill had been incorporated. However, the government did not accept the proposal, he said.

He said the bill was not meant for protecting women’s rights but for appeasing the United States.

MNAs Samia Raheel Qazi and Shahida Akhtar Ali said the day the PWR bill was passed would be regarded as one of the most unfortunate days in the history of the country. Pakistan’s ideological identity was tarnished and Article 227 of the constitution was violated, they said.