LAHORE, Oct 16: ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim has rejected as ‘unworkable and non-serious’ the ruling PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s proposal to convene an all party conference to discuss relief activities in quake-hit areas and chalk out a long-term strategy for providing shelter to survivors.

Talking to Dawn on Sunday, the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy leader said the government was being run by Gen Pervez Musharraf and he had not said anything on the subject. “Any proposal mooted by anybody else carries no weight and it would be waste of time even to give it a serious thought,” he added.

He said the opposition parties might seriously discuss the idea if it came from the man running the country but since Gen Musharraf was tight-lipped and had never said he could sink differences with his political opponents, the ARD would not seriously take utterances made by other leaders.

Asked if a similar proposal made by MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed could bring parties of all shades of opinion on a single platform to help the quake victims, he said it was not clear whether Qazi had expressed his individual opinion or had represented the religious alliance’s point of view.

Mr Fahim said if Mr Ahmed wanted that the APC was held, the idea should come from the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal.

The ARD chairman criticized the rulers for slow pace of rescue and relief activities in the quake-hit areas and said many people had died because they could not get timely help.

He regretted that it took around 72 hours to an efficient organization like the army, which was supposed to be ready for a war every moment, to start relief activities in areas destroyed by the worst ever quake in the country’s history.

He said many lives could have been saved if the army had started an operation even without required equipment.

Mr Fahim said People’s Party Parliamentarians leaders were visiting the affected areas and extending all possible help to the victims. He said many people had told the PPP leaders that even a weak after the tragedy, the government agencies had failed to provide them any assistance.

Answering a question, the ARD chief said the opposition was not trying to score points by making statements. Rather it wanted to set aside political differences in the view of magnitude of the tragedy, he added.

HASHMI: Meanwhile, imprisoned ARD President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, also acting President Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), has said a government-sponsored APC will give the nation little else but disappointment.

In a statement, he said Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto and Altaf Hussain should also be invited to the proposed conference to unite the nation and enable it to deal with the calamity.

Mr Hashmi feared that in the absence of ‘national leadership’, the APC would be used for legitimizing the ‘unconstitutional acts of the military rulers.’

He said: “At this crucial juncture, there is a need for a national government and not a meeting of the National Security Council.”

The PML-N leader said it was worrisome for the nation that although 70 per cent of the national budget was being spent on defence, the army had only eight helicopters in its fleet.