Opposition leader in Punjab Assembly Qasim Zia on Saturday said that non-participation of Benazir Bhutto in the All Parties Conference (APC) will not affect the Charter of Democracy (CoD). He expressed these views while talking to reporters after a meeting with a local Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Ashraf Khan in Okara.
Leaders and delegations of opposition parties have already reached London to participate in the APC, but Benazir Bhutto has declined herself to participate in the meeting due to some reservations although she is in London where the APC is being held. Qasim Zia said the APC host Mian Nawaz Sharif had no objection over the non-participation of Benazir Bhutto in the meeting.
He said a delegation of PPP headed by Makhdoom Amin Fahim was taking part in the meeting, while the government was trying to break the grand opposition but it would not succeed in its efforts.
Zia informed that there was no item on the agenda of the APC to convert Alliance for Restoration Democracy (ARD) into an electoral alliance, but seat adjustment with different parties cannot be ruled out. Talking about the issue of 'Lal Masjid', he alleged that on one hand General Musharraf opposed 'Talibanisation' and on the other he did not check the activities of 'Lal Masjid' administration which had tried to challenge the writ of the government.