MMA revived in K-P sans JUI-S

JUI-F, JI and JUP leaders say they will contest elections from the same platform

PESHAWAR: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has been revived – albeit only in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and without JUI-S, the Maulana Samiul Haq faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.

Provincial leadership of five religio-political parties on Tuesday announced the establishment of the MMA for contesting the next elections from a single platform.



The announcement was made at press conference after a consultative meeting of the five parties at the provincial secretariat of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in Peshawar.

The parties joining hands to form the MMA include the JUI-F, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), the Jamiat Ahle Hadith (JAH) and the Islami Tehreek, also called Shia Ulema Council.

However, the JUI-S that was a part of the MMA that won elections in K-P in 2002 kept away from the alliance this time, having already joined hands with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Addressing the press conference, JUI-F provincial chief Maulana Gul Naseeb, JI provincial chief Mushtaq Ahmed Khan and JUP provincial chief Fayaz Khan said that a tribal committee had been formed to hold meetings with the JUI-S chief in a bid to woo him back.

The JUI-F and JI leaders said they would contest elections from the same platform, having the same election symbol, manifesto and agenda. They said they would quit the federal and provincial governments if asked to do so by the MMA’s central leadership.

Currently, the JUI-F is part of the federal government while the JI is an ally of the PTI-led K-P government.

“We, the religious parties of the country, have again joined hands to counter the agenda of global imperialists. On January 13, the central cabinet of the MMA would be established in Lahore,” the leaders announced in a joint statement, adding that ‘secular’ political parties should pack up as they were not needed in the country anymore.



The leaders told the media representatives that the prevailing circumstances called for unity among religious parties and no conspiracy would be allowed to cause a split. All allied parties would hold joint rallies and political gatherings, and an election campaign from the MMA platform would soon be kicked off.

JI’s Mushtaq said that a committee had been established at the central level to hold deliberations and consultations under the supervision of Akram Khan Durrani and Liaquat Baloch. He said both the central and provincial-level committees would be on the same page, and his party would quit the K-P government if the MMA leadership asked for it.