Jamiat unsure about Fazl’s MMA revival bid

JUI-F appears bent upon reviving an alliance of religious parties on the pattern of the now defunct MMA.

ISLAMABAD:

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) appears to be bent upon reviving an alliance of religious parties on the pattern of the now defunct Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), but this time around the Jamaat-i-Islami seems to be ambivalent about becoming part of any such move.

The Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith also appears to be eager to revive the alliance, which was formed during the 2002 general elections.

“We are not going to rejoin the federal government. We are trying to revive the MMA. The move will pile up (adequate) pressure on ruling parties to address burning issues,” said JUI-F leader Ismail Buledi.

JUI-F, which parted ways with the federal government earlier this year, is still a coalition partner of the PPP in Balochistan.

Buledi, a JUI-F senator from Balochistan, said his party would discuss its future line of action regarding the Balochistan government after Maulana Fazl returned from abroad next month.

The JUI-F chief is currently leading a three-member delegation of a parliamentary committee to win support on Kashmir issue in Brussels, Belgium.

Amir of the Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith Prof Sajid Mir accused the JI of creating hurdles in the way of reviving the MMA.“The revival of MMA is difficult because the JI is not playing its due role to build up political pressure against the government ,” he said.

The JI was one of the major components of the alliance which ruled Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan after the 2002 general elections.

JI Secretary-General Liaquat Baloch said the revival of the MMA was “not workable under the current domestic political scenario”. The idea can be implemented in some other form, he said.

Baloch said that although the JUI-F had resigned from the federal cabinet, it is still a government ally in Balochistan, which “raises questions about its sincerity regarding the revival of any MMA-like alliance”.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2011.