ISLAMABAD, Dec 23: The differences over the retirement age of superior court judges continued to haunt the government and the MMA negotiators on Tuesday, delaying the signing of the draft constitutional package by yet another day to Wednesday.

The government has already indicated to summon the National Assembly session on Friday to table the draft amendment bill for its early passage, preferably before the Saarc summit scheduled to start here on Jan 4.

Sources said the government-MMA negotiators would meet on Wednesday and are expected to sign the draft package.

On Tuesday, MMA representatives Liaquat Baloch and Hafiz Hussain Ahmed held a fourth round of talks with the government team led by Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali to resolve the issue. However, both sides stuck to their positions. The government said the retirement age should be extended by two years while the MMA insisted on one-year extension starting November 2002.

The MMA leaders were informed by the government team — comprising PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Senator S.M. Zafar — that the prime minister would hold consultations with the president at 1pm on Wednesday and return to meet the MMA leaders in the evening.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Baloch said the government negotiators appeared undecided on the issue. He threatened that if the government failed to accept the MMA’s proposal then a movement would be launched against it.

He said it had been made clear to the government team that the superior court judges should opt for retirement after whatever extension they had already enjoyed.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed was of the view that the government team had been convinced and hoped that the MMA’s proposal would be accepted.

He said the MMA leadership had been requested to reach Islamabad on Wednesday to be present at the package signing ceremony.