LAHORE, Nov 5: The imposition of state of emergency again brings closer all opposition parties as the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) components are contacting each other to adopt a joint stance against ‘unconstitutional and illegal measure by the army regime’.

People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) Senator Safdar Abbasi told Dawn on Monday PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto had contacted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Ishaq Dar, National Party’s Mir Hasil Bazinjo, Pakhtoonkhwa Mili Awami Party Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai and other leaders of nationalist parties to take a common stand on the issue.

He said ARD and PPP’s parliamentary party would hold their meetings on Nov 7 and 8 to discuss approaching the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA).

Both the ARD and the APDM are keeping all protest options open to resist the imposition of state of emergency.

PML-N and MMA leaders say they are ready to go for every peaceful protest method — from sits-in to march on Islamabad and from fill-prisons movement to civil disobedience. But a final decision will be taken after consulting other opposition parties.

Abbasi said the strategy would, however, be finalised after taking all allies on board.

Jamaat-i-Islami’s Liaqat Baloch and PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal say contacts with leaders of all components of the APDM have been completed and a strategy will be finalised within a couple of days.

Mr Iqbal said all components of the Pakistan Oppressed Nation Movement and MMA, and the ANP and other like-minded parties had been contacted and all were agreed to launch a movement in coordination with lawyers and civil society to “prevent the country from falling in the grip of anarchy”.

He said PML-N’s district bodies had been told to prepare protest plans according to their own conditions. He said attempts were being made to convince businessmen to join the struggle.

He admitted the army dictator was benefiting from divided opposition and PPP’s “solo flight”. He said they had not yet contacted the PPP for the protest movement because “the party has yet to clarify its stance on the issue. Ms Bhutto is in contact with Gen Musharraf even today. Hers can no longer be called an opposition party”.

Mr Baloch said Ms Bhutto was one of the two beneficiaries of the imposition of state of emergency.

“Through action against the judiciary, Gen Musharraf averted Supreme Court’s decision against his eligibility to contest presidential polls as well as cleared the obstacles set in the way of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) by the apex court enabling Ms Bhutto to benefit from the ordinance as promised in a deal between the army ruler and the PPP chairperson.”

Asked if Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman would go along the protest plan, he claimed that Mr Rehman was also ready to resist Gen Musharraf’s move to prolong his rule.

Asked if the party would also think of moving courts against “illegal and unconstitutional” step of the army ruler, he said there seemed no use of going to judges who had taken oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order. However, senior advocates would be consulted in this regard, he added.

MMA central information secretary Pir Ijaz Hashmi says, “it is a make or break moment.

“It is time for staging sits-in and encircling the rulers to get civil rights restored otherwise the country will be gripped by a fascist regime.”

He said that political parties could not escape their role by assigning just lawyers to defend the judiciary.

“A wait-and-see policy will do no good. Politicians cannot sit in their drawing-rooms to let the masses bear the brunt for resisting the emergency on their own.”

He stresses for a joint action by all the parties as solo flights will harm the cause instead of supporting it.