All Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) component parties, except for Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), have agreed to revive the fractured alliance of religious parties once again.
JI, which had been a driving force behind the alliance that swept parliament and provincial assembly seats from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in the 2002 elections, has decided to distance itself from its revival.
“It has been decided in principle to revive the alliance of the religious parties. This decision has been taken in view of the country’s situation,” announced Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman while addressing a press conference following a detailed meeting with other component parties on Thursday. Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith, Islami Tehreek and members of JUI (Senior) participated in the meeting.
JI and Maulana Samiul Haq’s JUI faction (JUI-S), which were both part of the MMA’s original incarnation, are not part of the new alliance. However, a breakaway JUI-S faction named JUI (Senior) has joined the conglomerate of religio-political parties.
While Fazlur Rehman, who is likely to head the revived MMA, said JI’s possible inclusion in the group will be discussed at the next meeting, JI’s Liaquat Baloch told The Express Tribune that his party is unlikely to join the alliance.
“We congratulate them for reviving MMA and wish them all the best,” Baloch remarked. He claimed that JI had not been consulted so far. When asked what his party’s response would be if contacted by any of the other component parties, he replied, “We (JI) have already made our decision now.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2012.
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