ISLAMABAD, May 15: Jailed president of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has termed the signing of the Charter of Democracy by former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif a victory for the nation and said the next target of the ARD should be to resign from parliament.

In a statement issued from Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore and released by the party’s central media office here on Monday, Mr Hashmi announced that he had sent his and his daughter Maimoona Hashmi’s resignations from the National Assembly to his party chief Nawaz Sharif as he believed that there was no use of sitting in the parliament.

Mr Hashmi, who is also the acting president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said the time had come for the opposition to resign from the assemblies as it would be a burden on the national exchequer to remain members of the parliament.

He said the signing of the charter by the heads of the two major political parties was a second big victory of the people after establishment of Pakistan in 1947.

Mr Hashmi said the charter had not only been signed merely by two persons, it was actually a unified decision of the nation to fight against the dictatorship. He said the charter was backed by 150 million people of Pakistan and the PPP and PML-N, after signing it, had abolished the military dictatorship from the country forever. He said the charter was an announcement to the end of military rule.

Mr Hashmi said the charter would have far reaching effects on the country’s politics. He appealed to other political parties to also sign the charter so that a sovereign parliament could be established. He was of the view that those political parties who would not sign the charter would find it difficult to maintain their existence.