ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: The Pakistan People’s Party, which has emerged as the largest parliamentary group in the National Assembly in the Feb 18 elections, on Thursday formally invited a fractured Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal to become part of the proposed government of national consensus in order to steer the country out of the present crisis.

The invitation was extended by PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari during a meeting with Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Amir Maulana Fazlur Rehman at the residence of Senator Talha Mehmood.

Mr Zardari was accompanied by Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Raza Rabbani, Yusuf Raza Gillani, Syed Khurshid Shah, Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Farhatullah Babar.

Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, former NWFP chief minister Akram Durrani and Senator Talha Mehmood assisted Maulana Fazl in the talks.

PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar told Dawn that another round of talks between the PPP and the MMA would be held on Friday. The Jamaat-i-Islami-less MMA won only seven seats in the National Assembly.

Talking briefly to reporters after the meeting, a visibly-happy Maulana Fazl said the two sides had agreed that the country needed political unity and a government of national consensus.

He said the MMA had presented to the PPP leaders its list of priorities and the two sides would hold further negotiations in the next few days. He said the MMA wanted to see parliament’s sovereignty, rule of the Constitution, end of dictatorship and elimination of army’s role in politics.

Mr Zardari said his party had previously worked with Maulana Fazl and expressed the hope that they would be able to work together in future as well. He said the nation would soon hear good news about the formation of a national consensus government.

Sources told Dawn that Maulana Fazl briefed the PPP delegation on the circumstances under which the MMA was forced to support the 17th Constitutional Amendment. They said that the JUI-F chief agreed to support the PPP’s move to abolish the National Security Council and Article 58-2(B) from the Constitution.

The PPP leadership had in the past called the MMA a “Mullah Military Alliance” and held them responsible for the breaking away of a joint opposition in the previous assembly. They had also accused the MMA of strengthening President Musharraf’s hold on power by providing indemnity to his unconstitutional acts through the controversial 17th Amendment.

On Wednesday, 171 MNAs-elect of the PPP, PML-N and the ANP attended a “show of strength” luncheon hosted by Mr Zardari to prove their majority in the National Assembly. Heads of the three major parties vowed to form a coalition government at the centre and in the four provinces. They also pledged to fight against dictatorship and to end establishment’s role in politics.

MISSING PERSONS: Earlier, a seven-member delegation of the families of missing persons called on Mr Zardari. It was led by Amna Masood Janjua, who had been actively fighting the legal battle in the Supreme Court.

Farhatullah Babar said Mr Zardari had assured the delegation that the PPP was committed to tracing the missing persons and dealing with their cases in accordance with the law. Mr Zardari expressed concerns over the disappearance of citizens at the hands of intelligence agencies and said his party would try to bring the agencies under the ambit of law.

MEETING WITH LOSERS: The PPP co-chairman presided over a meeting of losing candidates of national and provincial assemblies from the NWFP and Balochistan.

Mr Zardari said that despite rigging in selective constituencies, the PPP had emerged as the largest party in the National Assembly and also held strong position in the provincial assemblies.

Now that the establishment had been weakened, he said, it was incumbent upon all political forces to join hands to strengthen democratic institutions. He said the PPP wanted to change the system by removing the anomalies introduced in the Constitution which made the elected parliament subservient to the establishment, adding: “The power must be restored to the people to whom it belongs.”

About the judiciary, he said a weak judiciary had always been manipulated by dictators and it was in the interest of the people and democracy that the judiciary was strengthened. He said the PPP would work with other political forces to strengthen the judiciary. He said the PPP had already submitted a constitutional amendment bill in the Senate seeking far-reaching changes in the mode of appointment of judges and giving them financial and administrative independence.

PRESS FREEDOM: Talking to a delegation of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists, Mr Zardari said the PPP would ensure freedom of the press and more access to information and try to establish a modern and state-of-the-art monitoring system of the government.

The PPP co-chairman said the new government would ensure media freedom. “We will make it mandatory that every decision of the government will be discussed thoroughly in parliament in the presence of the media before finalising and implementing any policy.”

He agreed to journalists’ proposals for repealing the Pemra Ordinance and other laws putting curbs on the media. He also agreed to minimise the role of the government in Pemra and make it an autonomous regulatory body.

Mr Zardari said a press council should be formed in consultation with owners, editors and working journalists to listen to complaints and provide relief to the aggrieved party. He said the PPP was committed to implementing the Seventh Wage Board Award and assured the journalists that he would talk with the owners for its implementation in an appropriate manner.