Has agreed vs had agreed

After an audience with the King at the Palace, the rally’s Chairman said that his party had agreed to run the rally in a stadium.

The sentence above is found in a recent news article and the rally is not held yet as of today.

As far as I know, had is used if an event was done in the past and no longer takes place in the present, while has in the past tense form is used if an event was done in the past and the event still takes place in the present. In this example, the agreed to run the rally in the stadium is still in place.

So can someone enlighten me between has agreed vs had agreed.

Thanks[/u]

Hi Melvin,

The sentence is typical ‘reported speech’.

DIRECT speech:
“Our party agreed/has agreed to run the rally in a stadium.”

REPORTED speech:
The rally’s Chairman said that his party had agreed to run the rally in a stadium.

The Charmain and the King had a discussion and the party reached an agreement. This happened in the past. Although the running of the rally may still be in the future, the agreement itself was made in the past.

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