LAHORE, May 20: The Pakistan People’s Party has distanced itself from the efforts being made by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and the PML-N for the formation of a grand opposition alliance.

Thus the party will not participate in a meeting called by the religious alliance in Islamabad on May 25 and a multi-party conference being hosted by the PML-N in London in June.

However, the party’s secretary-general Raja Pervaiz Ashraf told Dawn on Sunday that other parties in the ARD were free to take their own decisions about the two meetings keeping in view their interests and requirements of the prevailing situation.According to MMA President Qazi Husain Ahmed, all opposition parties, including the PPP, are being invited to the May 25 meeting which he hoped would lay the foundation of a grand opposition alliance to launch a movement against the government.

He said the religious alliance wanted all opposition parties to struggle from a common platform to mount pressure on Gen Musharraf to quit so that free and fair elections could be held under the supervision of an interim government of national consensus.The proposed broad-based alliance, he said, should also make concerted efforts to annul all amendments made to the Constitution after the October 1999 coup.

Any party which did not attend the MMA-sponsored May 25 moot would isolate itself, Qazi Husain said in an obvious reference to the PPP’s decision to stay away.

After the Islamabad meeting, he said, the opposition parties would also attend a multi-party conference being hosted by exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in London some time next month.

PPP-Parliamentarians secretary-general Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said his party could not trust the MMA because of its track record and, therefore, would not participate in the religious alliance’s May 25 meeting.

“They have their agenda, and we have ours,” said the PPP leader, complaining that the MMA was responsible for sealing the political fate of Ms Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif by supporting an amendment which barred them from going for a third term as prime ministers.

Asked what would be the justification for the PPP to stay away from a conference being organised by Mr Sharif in London, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said the PML-N leader had not consulted the PPP before taking a decision to hold the meeting.

Secondly, he said, since the MMA would be present at the London conference, the PPP would like to stay away.

The PML-N’s conference is also aimed at uniting all opposition parties for a movement to oust Gen Musharraf.

Replying to a question, Raja Pervaiz said parties in the ARD were aware of the PPP’s thinking about the MMA and it was for them to decide whether to participate in a conference being called by the coalition of religious parties or to invite them to theirs.