22 March 2004	Monday	30 Muharram 1425

ISLAMABAD March 21: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government in the NWFP has decided to expand the provincial cabinet to accommodate one representative from each of the four smaller component parties of the six-party alliance to redress their grievances.

This was stated by MMA's deputy parliamentary leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed here after meeting NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani in Peshawar on Sunday. These step were aimed at assuaging complaints of these parties, particularly those of the JUI-S, whose president Maulana Samiul Haq has severed his relations with the MMA's leadership.

Mr Ahmed told this correspondent that the chief minister would finalize the list of probable ministers/advisers from each party and the oath-taking ceremony would be held within the next couple of days. The decision to expand the NWFP cabinet was awaiting implementation for the past several months.

The MMA supreme council which met here on Saturday had decided to direct the Frontier chief minister to implement the decision without further delay and for this purpose Hafiz Hussain Ahmed was assigned to convey to the provincial chief minister its displeasure over non implementation of the said decision.

The supreme council has also set up a committee to hold meetings with the estranged parties' leadership. At present, JUI-S has two MPAs in the provincial assembly one of them has already been accommodated as deputy speaker while the JUP, JAH and the banned Islami Tehrik have one MPA each.