Preconditions: Divergent interests keep MMA revival uncertain

Fazl says JI demanding 50 per cent seats in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as a precondition for the restoration of alliance.

PESHAWAR:

The revival of the defunct Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) doesn’t seem to be all smooth sailing. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Tuesday that the Jamaat Islami (JI) was demanding 50 per cent seats in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as a precondition for the restoration of the alliance.

Talking to reporters at the Khyber Union of Journalists programme Mulaqat at the Peshawar Press Club, Fazl said this was only condition made by the JI for the renewal of the alliance. However, the JUI-F chief seemed less than eager to accept the demand, asking reporters whether they thought it was justified, given the JUI-F’s strength in the province.

Fazl went on to say that they did not oppose the creation of new provinces where the need arose. However, he was quick to add that they were not in favour of provinces on ethno-linguistic lines.

About Pakistan’s policy on the war on terror, Fazl said that the 2001 decision to follow international powers’ dictates brought this nation into humiliation and disrepute. He said that parliament’s joint resolution was not taken into account, which was tantamount to a denial of its supremacy.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2012.