LAHORE, Feb 8: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal President Qazi Hussain Ahmad said here on Thursday that the alliance leadership had saved the MMA from disintegration because they believed that, together, they had many more challenges to face.

Talking to reporters at Mansoora, he said the MMA had not allowed popular feelings against the military government to subside and the alliance leaders had demonstrated maturity in a situation when the people were under the general impression that the MMA was about to break up.

The Jamaat-i-Islami amir said the decision whether to quit the assemblies or not would be taken collectively at the supreme council meeting to be held at his residence in Islamabad on Feb 13. He said he was obliged to consult the Jamaat about the party’s future line of action. He said the JI Shoora, scheduled to meet from Friday (today), would take a decision, which would be binding on him.

The actual issue, he said, was to rid the country of military rule and send the armed forces back to the barracks.

Qazi’s ally in the MMA, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, told reporters here on Thursday that certain issues, including the question of resignations, needed to be addressed urgently.

“We cannot afford to keep such issues lingering on given that general elections are scheduled to take place this year,” Maulana Fazl, who is MMA’s secretary-general, told reporters at his 7-Club Road residence.

The Maulana said the supreme council meeting on Feb 13 would be crucial for the much-needed unity of the opposition. He said his party was working on a pragmatic stance that could be adopted at the Feb 13 meeting. “We want to take a firm stand on all issues on the basis of the existing realities,” he added.

He also criticised the government for enforcing ‘unwarranted’ discipline on the members of the National Assembly and restricting the movement of journalists in the House in the name of security. According to him, these measures breached the MNAs’ privilege.

While Fazl talked of pragmatism, the deputy secretary-general of his party spoke of ‘springing a surprise’. Hafiz Hussain Ahmad told reporters here on Thursday that MMA legislators could catch the government unawares by resigning from assemblies en bloc.

In Mansoora to attend a reception in honour of a Saudi delegation, he said the way the government was behaving, such an extreme step could not be ruled out.

The JUI MNA said the supreme council meeting in Islamabad would consider the invitation for participation in the PML-N-sponsored all parties conference and the question of taking the PPP and other opposition parties in confidence about the alliance’s future line of action.