JUI-S mocks MMA revival announcement

JI expresses surprise over its exclusion from the alliance.

ISLAMABAD:

Ruling out any possibility of joining the alliance, chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Maulana Samiul Haq on Wednesday snubbed Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s earlier announcement to revive the defunct Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Monday MMA would be revived on October 18 with all five components of the party, including Haq’s JUI-S.

He said the alliance would comprise JUI-F, JUI-S, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadis and Islami Tehreek, but added the deadline for Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) to be a part of it had passed and that the party would not be taken into the fold.

Haq, however, has categorically maintained his party would not be a part of the MMA, and would instead announce the formation of a new “big alliance” of political and religious parties. He did not divulge any more details.

JUI-S spokesman Yousaf Shah also ruled out the possibility of his party joining the MMA, saying they had given the alliance a “divorce”.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami expressed surprise over Rehman’s announcement to exclude it from the MMA.

Rehman should commit in writing that he will not side with the PPP after elections, JI spokesman Shahid Shamsi told The Express Tribune.

“Our party’s stance is clear: if Rehman is interested in the revival of the MMA, JUI-F should not be an ally of the PPP,” he said.

Rehman previously claimed that JI had demanded 50 seats in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) along with the condition that MMA’s president should be from their party. This, he said, had triggered the differences.

Shahid, however, rejected Rehman’s claims, saying the issues were to be discussed after the revival of MMA. He added Rehman must have publicly responded to JI’s “proposals.”

A leader of the Defence of Pakistan Council (DPC), Fazalur Rehman Khalil confirmed the formation of a new alliance of religious groups that Haq spoke about, but said his party – the Ansarul Ummah – will not take part in it “for a while.”

He, however, added that most of the DPC’s members will be a part of the proposed election alliance.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2012.