PESHAWAR, June 30: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has described the election tribunal’s verdict disqualifying MNA Mufti Ibrar Sultan as politically-motivated and declared that it would fight politically.

MMA Provincial Vice President Senator Mohammad Ibrahim told Dawn here on Monday that the alliance would not go to the Supreme Court against the verdict and would, instead, launch a political struggle.

He said the election tribunal’s verdict had endangered the future of PML-Q parliamentarians rather than the lawmakers of the MMA.

Sen Ibrahim said: “The PML-Q will be the main loser in this game as many members of the ruling alliance submitted degrees from seminaries.”

He mentioned the name of incumbent Chief Minister of Sindh who, he claimed, would lose his seat in the light of this judgment. He asserted that the election tribunal had no power to challenge the Election Commission’s rules and regulations.

Instead of challenging the degrees of parliamentarians, the government should look into rules and regulations set by the EC, he maintained.

He claimed that Advocate Aslam Khaki was playing the role of an agent who had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court on behalf of President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Another MMA MNA Maulana Hamidul Haq, while talking to newsmen on the High Court premises, said that the superior judiciary had set a very wrong precedent. He said the verdict was aimed at pressuring the MMA on the issue of Legal Framework Order. “This is a very unjust verdict and the central leadership of the MMA will evolve the future line of action in this regard,” Mr Haq said.

When asked whether they would go appeal the verdict in the Supreme Court, he replied that a decision would be taken by the MMA central leadership in this regard.

Giving its reaction to the verdict, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said:

“The court verdict, on a petition filed by a losing candidate from Kohat regarding the equivalency of the Madressah qualification held by MMA’s Mufti Abrar, comes at a time when Opposition parties have already expressed concern about continuing efforts to tamper with the political system and the results it has produced.

“There can also be little public confidence in the independence and impartiality of courts given the increased curbing of judicial independence seen over the past three years.”