ISLAMABAD April 13: The combined opposition in the National Assembly will decide on whether to repeat its earlier noisy and stormy scenes or to take a middle path on the LFO issue, when its parliamentary groups hold a joint meeting at 1pm on Tuesday, two hours before a lower house session, sources told Dawn on Sunday.

In the meantime, the pro-Musharraf politicians have been tasked by the forces to carry out efforts for the postponement of the joint session unless it is assured that the activity will be trouble free.

The government side had proposed that a joint session of the two houses be held on April 21, and arrangements were also taken in hand by the quarters concerned.

Secretary-general of the National Alliance and Millat Party, Mohammad Ali Durrani, made a proposal at the Rawalpindi Press Club on Sunday that the president should not come to a joint session of parliament, which was suspected to be marred by the opposition’s noisy scenes.

Similarly, Sheikh Rashid, federal minister for information and president’s spokesman, in his press talk said: “There was no urgency to hold a joint session nor it was necessary under the Constitution.”

Before the combined opposition’s meeting, both the MMA and ARD affiliated parliamentary groups will separately meet at the Parliament House in the morning, sources said.

The government side through Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has already formally requested the MMA to give a second thought to its method of protest on floor of the house, at least during the impending joint session of parliament. But it failed to make a similar request to the other opposition parliamentary group leaders.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, deputy secretary-general of MMA, who was contacted by Chaudhry Shujaat in connection with holding of the joint session of parliament in a peaceful atmosphere, tried to get him back on Sunday, but failed as the latter was away in Muzaffarabad.

Hafiz Hussain told Dawn that he had completed in the last two days his consultations with Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Qazi Hussain Ahmed in D.I.Khan and Liaqat Baloch in Lahore.

He rebutted the allegations levelled by PPP Parliamentarians Makhdoom Amin Fahim suggesting that the religio-political alliance was committing solo flight in its talks with the government. Instead, he quipped, it was ‘slow’ flight and not solo flight.

If the opposition parliamentary groups unanimously decide to continue its protest against LFO on the same pattern adopted earlier, the MMA will also follow the suit, he said.