ISLAMABAD May 13: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy on Sunday condemned the violence in Karachi and gave a call for a countrywide strike on Monday.

The announcement was made at a news conference which followed an emergency meeting of the alliance convened by its chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim at the PPP secretariat.

Besides Mr Fahim, ARD leaders Raja Zafarul Haq, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Tehmina Daultana and Jehangir Badar were present at the press conference.

They blamed the federal and Sindh governments for Saturday’s events and said it had been planned to thwart the opposition’s struggle for supremacy of the judiciary. They alleged that the government had prompted and patronised its ally to disrupt the peaceful campaign.

They claimed that the government was creating grounds for imposing emergency in the county, but warned that such a move would aggravate the situation, instead of resolving any issue.

The ARD leaders said the opposition would continue its peaceful struggle for restoration of the Constitution and independence of the judiciary.

The alliance also constituted a committee to investigate into Saturday’s incidents and to chalk out a plan to accelerate the anti-government campaign.