ISLAMABAD, Sept 20: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) has expressed the hope that the Muttahida Majlis- i-Amal (MMA) will reject the proposed constitutional package of the government as it will undermine the sovereignty of parliament and the Constitution.

Talking to Dawn here on Saturday, ARD parliamentary leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said the package was actually a “polite refusal” of the government to accept the proposals of the MMA.

Mr Hashmi said the MMA had committed to take other opposition parties into confidence before taking a final decision, but it had not yet contacted any opposition leader.

The ARD leader said the present assembly had no right to change the basic character of the Constitution and since the Legal Framework Order (LFO) was aimed at changing the very system from parliamentary to presidential form and the opposition would never endorse it in its present shape.

Another ARD leader Senator Reza Rabbani, who is also the parliamentary leader of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) in Senate, expressed his concern over the proposal on 58-2(b) in the proposed constitutional package which sought the Supreme Court role before the dissolution of the government.

Mr Rabbani said this was an attempt to politicize the superior judiciary and direct involvement of the chief justice in the government affairs. Such a move, he said, would further complicate the power structure.