PESHAWAR, Dec 11: A dissident group of the Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal has urged the alliance’s supreme council to sack “corrupt and inept” ministers and restore the “pro-people image of the MMA”. MPA Khalid Waqar Chamkani, a spokesman of the group, said his colleagues were hoping that the MMA’s central leadership would meet their demands.

“We are loyal to the alliance, because it has promised to replace exploiters with simple, competent and honest ministers. However, some of the ministers are setting an ugly precedent of ineptness and corruption in the province,” he said.

Mr Chamkani said members of the group had come forward in an effort to make ministers accountable for their wrongdoings. He claimed that people who had voted for the alliance were now feeling disillusioned because ministers were inaccessible and not resolving their genuine problems.

The dissident group, which has more than 17 members, wants to replace some of the allegedly “untrained and corrupt” ministers with honest ones in the larger interest of the MMA and its supporters, he said.

Mr Chamkani alleged that some ministers had been minting money through their private secretaries by ordering illegal transfers and postings in the name of departmental adjustments. He said these ministers had angered the MMA followers through their actions and warned that the forward group would not allow them to continue with their unlawful and immoral attitude.

He pointed out that four Jamaat-i-Islami MPAs had handed over their resignations to Maulana Mohammad Idrees, a forward bloc leader, in protest against the “anti-people and uncivilized” attitude of the provincial cabinet. He dismissed claims made by Senior Minister Sirajul Haq that the JI was not party to the forward bloc’s politics.

Mr Chamkani insisted that some of the JI’s outspoken MPAs were also part of their group.

He warned that the forward bloc would call for a fresh cabinet to be installed if the MMA leadership did not come forward to resolve the problem. The bloc would also ask the chief minister to seek a vote of confidence from the provincial assembly, he said.

Asked whether they would vote for MMA-backed candidates in the Senate elections, he said the group would follow the MMA’s directives only if their demands were met. He claimed that his group was in a position to secure three seats in the forthcoming Senate elections.

In reply to a question, he said the NWFP Assembly’s Deputy Speaker Ikramullah Shahid had endorsed their present political stand and promised to support them. He said two more MPAs had joined their group and hoped that it would have a snowball effect in days to come.

About requisition of the provincial assembly session, he said his group was waiting for the outcome of the opposition’s meeting summoned at the cantonment’s residence of Bashir Ahmed Bilour of the Awami National Party on Sunday. “We have asked them to requisition a joint session of the assembly, because we lack the required numbers for the purpose,” he said.

He confirmed that the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had held a meeting with Chief Minister Akram Durrani and had sent JUI information secretary Abdul Jalil Jan with a message to him.