MMA – a dream or reality?

SHABQADAR: After the recent announcement of an electoral alliance between the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), many are left wondering about the chances of the re-emergence of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).

JUI-S leader Maulana Samiul Haq met PTI chairperson Imran Khan on Saturday in Islamabad and both the leaders agreed to establish an electoral alliance ahead of the 2018 general elections.

The move has raised the question of whether the MMA can still be revived. Many believe there will be a repeat of the 2002 alliance as leaderships of the various parties that had entered the alliance then have announced that during a meeting on December 15, the status of MMA will formally be announced.

When Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) senior minister for local govt Inayat Ullah was asked about the upcoming meeting in Karachi, he told The Express Tribune that even though the leaders of six parties – JI, JUI-S, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F), Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), Tehrik-e-Jafria Pakistan (TJP) and Jamiat Ahle Hadees Pakistan (JAP) – had announced a meeting on the MMA revival, it was still not clear whether they would actually announce the alliance’s revival or deliberate on it further in bid to bring other religious parties under one flag.



Inayat Ullah said the JI wanted to revive the MMA but if other party leaders did not agree, it might create hurdles, dashing the dreams for a strong religious party alliance during the 2018 elections.

He was asked about the JUI-S decision to form an alliance with the PTI and Maulana Sami’s disapproval of the JUI-F and the JI for not abandoning their alliances with the federal and provincial government.

In response, he said it was decided in Lahore during the previous meeting that after the MMA was revived, the JI and the JUI-F would have to obey whatever decision the executive council took. But he added that it would be premature to abandon the alliance at this stage as the status of the MMA itself was uncertain.

When the same question was put to JUI-S central vice amir and Sami’s son, former MNA Maulana Hamidul Haq, he told The Express Tribune that Sami wanted a broad-based electoral alliance of like-minded parties – whether they religious or others.

When asked why they established an alliance with the PTI and whether they would like to make the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) a part of the proposed alliance, he said, “The JUI-S believes that the PTI leans more towards religion than most parties which is clearly seen by the Islamic reforms they introduced in K-P, some of which include abolishing interest as part of private loans and teaching Quran and Hadith as a compulsory subject at the school level.”



He further elaborated by saying that they had reservations about the MMA in the past as well with the way they were running the government in K-P and the same was also mentioned then. He said his party’s shura would decide whether they would stay with the PTI or join the MMA, adding that JUI-S shura had not endorsed the alliance yet.

Haq said that with Sami heading the DPC, he would try to make all parties in the DPC join the alliance with the PTI. He also questioned the past performances of both the JI and the JUI-F during the MMA government in K-P, saying that they had failed to introduce sharia in the province.

The JUI-S leader criticised the JUI-F alliance with the PML-N, blaming them for the amendment in the Khatam-e-Nabuwwat clause of the constitution. He slammed them further by saying that “today Tehreek-e-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah is staging a protest while the JUI-F is sitting in the cabinet” with the PML-N.

“How can we sit with a party that supports the PML-N in the federal government and how can we form an alliance with the parties that refuse to let go of the government for the MMA?” he asked.

Analyst view

Peshawar University’s International Relations Department’s Dr Ijaz Khattak was asked if December 15 will be seen as the day the MMA is revived, he replied he was not hopeful.



Apart from the JUI-S, the JI and JUI-F have many differences in opinion on key issues which include the Fata merger with K-P, Panama Papers case and Nawaz Sharif’s corruption, especially since the JI supports the PTI in K-P and the JUI-F is PML-N’s coalition partner in the government.

Discussing Sami’s role in the MMA, Khattak said although the JUI-S had no electoral strength in K-P in the presence of the JUI-F and the JI, they had their own standing in religious circles.

However, Khattak said if revived, the MMA would not be as impressive as it was in 2002, as times have changed drastically.

However, Pakistan Studies Department chairperson Dr Fakhrul Islam is hopeful about the religious party’s revival as promised by the leadership. He said that the revival of the party is demanded by almost the entire religious sphere. Dismissing the alliance between Sami and PTI, he said that even though Sami and his seminary have a legacy it will not impact the MMA, as JUI-S does not have any electoral background.

He further shed light on how even when Sami was a part of the MMA, between 2002 to 2008, he had more issues with the JI and JUI-F than with MMA opponents, clearly highlighting his unhappiness even then.

Islam’s view was that although the MMA will feel Sami’s absence in the alliance but at the same time the party will gladly live without the pressure that his presence brings, in the form of criticism for MMA policies.