Sane elements in the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy saved the alliance from a political jolt after they convinced Makhdoom Amin Fahim not to step down as its chairman.
ARD leader held extensive consultations with his friends and other key figures in the alliance over his under consideration idea and all of them wanted him to continue leading the alliance, sources told Business Recorder here on Thursday.
The Makhdoom from Hala, said Sindh felt dejected after the joint opposition's defeat in the no-trust motion in the National Assembly on Tuesday. The move was aimed to dislodge Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
"Technically speaking I was considering to quit as ARD head and vice-chairman Pakistan Peoples' Party Parliamentarians following the failure in the National Assembly the other day," Makhdoom Amin said while replying to a question during the briefing at the end of an All Parties Conference here.
He said that the artificial majority achieved after the military and police pressure defeated the motion, "which prompted me to stand down as both ARD and PPPP head".
ARD leader at its party heads meeting had demanded of the Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain to allow secret balloting to decide their motion, as they felt confident of winning support of 60-70 ruling coalition MNAs. But voting was conducted under the division method, ensuring no disgruntled lawmaker could vote for the motion.
ARD sources said that his exit at this critical juncture could have gone in favour of the government. They pointed out that exiled leaders Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto also wanted the veteran politician to continue.