LAHORE, Sept 28: The component parties of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy has elected People’s Party Parliamentarians President Makhdoom Amin Fahim as ARD’s new chairman, in a meeting held in Multan on Sunday.
Makhdoom Fahim’s election follows the sad demise of ARD chief Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan on Friday.
All the heads of ARD’s component parties participated in the meeting, which also reviewed the future strategy and line of action for the alliance in the absence of its driving force — the Nawabzada.
ARD sources said Makhdoom Fahim had pledged to continue the struggle for the restoration of the Constitution, supremacy of parliament and democratic institution as well as to get rid of military intervention.
Both the major parties — the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-N — reiterated their pledge to keep the alliance intact and give an impetus to their struggle for democracy and empowerment of the democratic institutions and the judiciary.—PPI
PPP Secretary-General and parliamentary leader in Senate Mian Raza Rabbani has said that the death of ARD chief Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan is a pause in the process but not a break in the purpose, adds Our Reporter from Islamabad.
“The ARD is committed to principles of democracy, federal parliamentary structure, supremacy of Parliament and supremacy of the Constitution,” he said in a statement issued here on Sunday.
He said from the ARD platform the PPP would continue its fight for these democratic principles for which the late Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan waged a “heroic” struggle throughout his life and finally died in the cause while still battling.
“It has been the position of the PPP and the ARD that there can be no democracy in the country as long as the regime insists on such dictatorial instrumentals as constitutional amendments without parliamentary approval and a President in uniform.
“This position has been vindicated once again by the refusal of the Commonwealth to admit Musharraf regime to its fold. The Commonwealth statement on the subject is an endorsement of the PPP and ARD position that there is no democracy in the country.
“The ARD will move on with its mission lives on. Those who like to think that the ARD or the democratic struggle will cease are living in a world of fantasy. The PPP will keep the ARD alive and active as in the past,” he pledged.