ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: An office-bearer of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy said the alliance may disintegrate if the main leadership's disinterest persisted.

Talking to Dawn here on Friday, a senior member of the ARD, on condition of anonymity, said smaller groups in the alliance were disappointed with the performance of the present leadership after the death of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan.

Referring to the absence of almost all senior and main leaders of the ARD in the recently-held meeting of the component parties' heads in Dera Ismail Khan, he said it showed the "careless attitude" of the top leadership. The meeting was not attended by ARD chairman and PPP president Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, deputy information secretary Munir Ahmed Khan, vice-president Tehmina Daultana, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Raja Zafarul Haq.

He said the heads of smaller parties were of the view that the alliance is functioning only as a parliamentary group now. Moreover, he said, the smaller parties were not taken into confidence at the time of finalizing the strategy for the 17th Constitutional Amendment bill and later in the decision to take part in the parliamentary proceedings.

He said the untimely death of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan had caused an irreparable damage to the alliance. He said the differences between the PPP and the PML-N had also started to surface, particularly on the Kashmir issue.

Besides this, he said, the differences within the two major parties were also damaging the alliance's cause, which had been formed by the late Nawabzada to launch a struggle for the restoration of genuine democracy in the country.

He said the Nawabzada was about to announce launching of a mass contact campaign against the present military regime before his death. He said after his death, the Nawabzada's successors had vowed to continue his mission and launch the mass contact drive.

He said the late Nawabzada had issued directives to the activists and office-bearers of various cities and the districts to make arrangements for the public meetings. "These activists are still waiting to get a call from the ARD central leadership," he added.