ISLAMABAD May 30: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal on Friday reportedly raised the “issues” of Islamization, “demanding” the government to make its demand to implement Shariat part of a package deal on the Legal Framework Order and divestiture of the president’s uniform.

Sources told Dawn that the demand was made by secretary general of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Maulana Fazlur Rehman during a meeting with the government representatives.

Leaders of the People’s Party Parliamentarians and the Pakistan Muslim League-N also Friday held talks with the MMA leader and discussed with him issues related with the trouble in the Punjab Assembly.

It was learnt that the presidential team, led by PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, had discussed with the MMA leader ways and means to resolve the deadlock over the LFO issue.

Sources talked about the talks entering into a decisive stage as the MMA, for the first time since being elected to the assemblies, called on the government to implement Shariat, restore Friday as the weekly holiday and implement recommendations of the Council for Islamic Ideology.

Political observers dismissed the fresh demands made by the alliance as being part of face saving tactics.

Without specifying the place of the meeting, sources said the presidential team, comprising some senior officials of a sensitive agency in addition to Mr Shujaat, had called on the MMA leader after the latter arrived in the federal capital from Quetta.

The meeting, they said, was part of the discussions held during the past two rounds of government-MMA talks that were held earlier on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Talking to Dawn, Maulana Fazlur Rahman said that the MMA would only cooperate with the government in legislation if it was assured of a package of concessions, including steps for Islamization, implementation of CII recommendations and restoration of the Friday holiday.

PPP chief Makhdoom Amin Fahim and PML-N acting president and the party’s parliamentary leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, in their separate meetings, discussed a joint strategy about the ill treatment of the Punjab Assembly.

Stressing the need for coherent line of action in this regard, the opposition leaders called for devising a strategy to meet the threat of a repeat of such action in the National Assembly and Senate in the future.

Reports, suggesting that the MMA leader had also held a ‘secret’ meeting with President Gen Pervez Musharraf after coming back from Quetta in a special plane, were rebutted by Maulana Fazlur Rahman.

Talking on his mobile telephone from Nowshera while on his way to Peshawar, Maulana Fazl said that if he had met the president, he would openly admit doing so, adding that reports in this regard were baseless.

During their meeting with Maulana, Chaudhry Shujaat and senior officials of a sensitive agency had reportedly conveyed a special message of the president, which the MMA leader would discuss with other senior leaders of the alliance before formulating his response.

Maulana Fazl said he had arrived from Quetta around 5am along with the provincial assembly speaker in the Balochistan chief minister’s plane, adding that he had not left his apartment before leaving for Peshawar.

Chaudhry Shujaat, sources said, had wanted to keep his meeting with the MMA leader ‘secret’ but somehow information in this regard was “leaked” to the press.

Maulana Fazl, while talking to this correspondent, said that during the meeting he had reiterated the alliance’s stated position on the LFO and the presidential powers and steps for Islamization.

Earlier, talking to newsmen after his meetings with Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, the JUI chief said the issue of LFO could only be resolved if the president showed flexibility in this regard. He, however, warned that the government’s attempts to divide the combined opposition would prove to be counterproductive.

Rejecting speculations about the government’s offer of ministries or other concessions, he termed such reports part of a character assassination campaign, saying that soon, no one would be able to hide anything.

Meanwhile, he said that he had assured the PPP and the PML-N of “complete cooperation” regarding the Punjab government’s action.

Sources, in the meantime, expressed optimism regarding fresh talks to end the deadlock over the contentious issues.

They said that the presidential team was likely to get back with fresh instructions from the president in the next few days.

The prime minister, they said, left the capital for his hometown in Balochistan on a three-day-long tour, intensifying doubts about an early resolution of the political impasse.

The MMA leadership was optimistic about the possibi-lity that the president may call them collectively or individually for direct consultations, giving them personal assurances on the timeframe for relinquishing his army uniform.

Sources said that the Jamali government was also in a fix over the presentation of the next year’s budget, adding that a number of options were being considered in this regard.

One of the proposals envisaged offering the MMA a full dress discussion on the Kashmir issue in the parliament if it agreed to allow presentation of the budget without noisy protests.

They said the government may consider allowing the speaker to bar ‘unwanted’ members in the assembly.