PESHAWAR, Sept 2: The Jamaat-i-Islami and the JUI-F, two major components of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), have locked horns over who could speak for the ruling six-party alliance in the NWFP.

A controversy sparked when provincial MMA's secretary of information Mufti Kefayatullah, claiming to be a spokesperson for the ruling alliance, derided NWFP Assembly Deputy Speaker Ikramullah Shahid for speaking against policy decisions and demanded his resignation.

Mr Shahid did not rebut Mr Kefayatullah's statement, but the JI took exception to the claim of the information secretary that he was a spokesperson for the MMA. Senior Minister and provincial JI Amir Sirajul Haq asked the JUI-F leader to desist from issuing policy statement on behalf of the government.

The Jamaat also criticized Mufti Kefayatullah, the JUI-F leader from Mansehra, for failing to understand the difference between the offices of the provincial secretary of information and the spokesperson for the MMA.

"If Mufti Kefayatullah does not understand the difference between secretary information and spokesperson, he better seek a wiser counsel from his party," the statement by provincial JI's secretary information Faqirullah Awan on Thursday said.

"He should not install himself as the MMA provincial president and should discharge his duties within the confines of his own responsibility," Mr Awan said. Referring to Mr Kefayatullah's claim, he said these kind of attempts would not benefit the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal.

Instead of raising organizational matters in the press, they should only be discussed at MMA meetings, he added. The JI leader also condemned Ikramullah Shahid for issuing statements against the policies of the MMA, but pointed out that the powers to seek his resignation rested with the provincial MMA's president and not with Mufti Kefayatulah.

Deputy Speaker Ikramullah Shahid, who belongs to the JUI-S, a junior partner in the MMA, has drawn an angry statement from Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani that he would not succumb to any blackmail and take to task whoever challenged his government.