16 April 2005	Saturday	06 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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PESHAWAR, April 15: NWFP Governor Khalilur Rehman has denied that he is campaigning against the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s Qari Abdullah who is contesting the by-election for the senate’s vacant seat from the Frontier.

“The Governor’s House has got nothing to do with the by-election nor has it been assigned any target for the by-election to achieve,” Mr Rehman said when newsmen asked him here on Friday about Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani’s recent statement in which Mr Durrani was quoted as having said that the Governor’s House should remain within the sphere of the Constitution.

The governor said the statement attributed to the chief minister was false. He claimed: “The chief minister cannot say anything like this about me.” He said that newsmen were in the habit of making issues out of non-issues. “They keep talking in the air,” said the governor.

However, the governor’s claim about being impartial was challenged by senior leaders of the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal who alleged that the governor was supporting a particular candidate against the MMA’s nominee.

“There are clear indications that the Governor’s House is siding with a particular candidate (against the MMA),” ANP’s additional general secretary Afrasyab Khattak said.

Similar views were expressed by Mufti Kifayatullah, spokesman for the MMA in the NWFP.

He, however, added that the governor chose to remain impartial after realising that it would be difficult to cause dent in the MMA’s unity.

“As per our information, the governor was very much involved in the by-election and held meetings with certain members of the provincial assembly to allure them,” the MMA spokesman said, adding that “he decided to stay away from it after realising that the MMA has got a clear cut majority.” However, the governor rejected the impression and claimed that he was impartial.

“I believe in democracy,” said the governor, adding that “they (the MMA) have clear majority in the NWFP Assembly, hence, in such a situation how can be someone set a specific target.”

About his recent meetings with some provincial assembly members, the governor said those who called on him involved a majority of (members) from the MMA.