LAHORE, Dec 15: The supreme council of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), which is meeting in Multan on Wednesday, will revert to its principle decision of rotating the alliance’s presidentship among its components, say sources.

It is most likely that Jamaat-i-Islami amir Qazi Husain Ahmad will be the first MMA chief for six months as the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP), which was holding the office until the death of Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, has not yet decided about Noorani’s successor.

Smaller constituents of the six-party religious alliance want to see Qazi Husain in the chair due to, what they say, contemptuous behaviour of JUI-F MPs towards leaders of smaller parties in the last Senate elections.

However, the sources do not rule out a tug-of-war between Qazi Husain and MMA secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rahman, who is also JUI-F president, for the office at a crucial time when the alliance is about to launch a movement against Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Maulana Fazl, whose party enjoys substantial stakes in the present set-up, will not like to lose this advantage through any “ill-timed” and “ill-planned” movement.

Several background interviews reveal that MMA the leadership feels that the government is pushing them to the wall, leaving no option for it but to unfold its much-hyped threat of launching the “remove Musharraf” movement.

They see harsh statement by Gen Musharraf in Quetta on Friday last and reported attempt on his life in Islamabad on Sunday as a basis for taking action against religious elements, crushing them before they could become a threat to the general’s rule.