A group of ruling coalition members of the National Assembly is planning to oppose the proposed bill seeking amendments to the Hudood Ordinance if the government attempts to rush it through the parliament in its present form, sources said.
The group claims majority of like-minded members' support has asked the government to amend the bill further to bring the legislation within the ambit of the Islam and the constitution. These members had on Wednesday submitted their own set of amendments to the National Assembly Secretariat.
Spearheaded by members from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) including Noorul Haq Qadri, Dr Nasim Afridi and Haji Nayyar Orakzai, the group had the backing of anti-Shujaat dissidents of Pakistan Muslim League (PML) hailing from the Seraiki region, sources added.
Prominent among those are: Makhdoom Ahmed Alam Anwar; Chaudhry Ejaz; Rai Mansab Ali Khan; Riaz Pirzada; Farooq Amjad Mir and Asghar Ali Shah. Sources said the group had made it clear to the government that all the 'Islamist and patriotic elements' would oppose the bill in its present form due to its 'confrontation' with the religion.
They said the flexibility that PML supremo Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and some of his top aides had shown in their stance towards the bill on Wednesday was actually the result of this threat.
Chaudhry, during a meeting with Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, had reportedly agreed for the formation of another committee to review the bill that had already been scrutinised by a house select committee.
Sources said President Pervez Musharraf wanted both Houses of the parliament to pass the bill ahead of his scheduled visit to the United States later this month.
The National Assembly is already in session and the Senate has been summoned to meet on Thursday for the same purpose, but the kind of resistance the bill was facing from within the ruling coalition, the chances of its passage seem bleak.
"He (Musharraf) wants to take along the bill as a proof of his devotion to the task of transforming Pakistani society into a liberal one, but circumstances don't appear to be in his favour," commented a ruling coalition source.
With the increasing volatility on the political front after the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti, the differences within the ruling coalition might add to the troubles of the government in the time to come, sources added.
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