March 12, 2006	Sunday	Safar 11, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, March 11: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) leadership has decided to take ‘disciplinary action’ against its members of the NWFP Assembly who violated the alliance’s decision in last week’s Senate election.

The decision was taken by the MMA leadership at a meeting of its supreme council here on Saturday amid reports that candidates for the Senate had allegedly spent millions of rupees to buy votes of MPAs in the NWFP.

MMA spokesman Shahid Shamsi told Dawn that the alliance’s leadership had taken serious notice of the violation of its decisions by some of the MPAs, who had not polled votes in favour of MMA nominees for the Senate.

The MMA had entered into an alliance with the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) for the Senate election in the NWFP Assembly on March 6, to elect 11 new members of the upper house. Despite having a majority in the provincial assembly, the MMA failed to get the desired results and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and its allied parties bagged more seats than their share in the election.

Mr Shamsi said that MMA leaders had decided to constitute a committee to hold investigation and submit its report to the supreme council in its next meeting. He said the name the members of the inquiry committee would be announced in a day or two.

Saturday’s meeting was presided over by MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed and was attended by Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Liaquat Baloch, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Prof Sajid Mir, Sahibzada Abul Khair Zubair, Allama Abdul Jalil Naqvi, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri, Qari Gul Rehman, Maulana Mohammad Khan Sheerani and Asadullah Bhutto.

Mr Shamsi said that the MMA leaders also discussed the strategy for the election of the chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate scheduled to be held on Sunday.

He said it had been decided that the names of the opposition-backed candidates for the two offices would be finalised after consultation with other opposition parties.

During the meeting, the MMA leaders expressed their concern over the military operation in tribal areas. They were of the view that the situation in Waziristan and other tribal areas could turn dangerous for the national security.

The MMA leaders said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf was hurting the patriotic tribal people only to appease the US. They said the MMA would not leave the people of the tribal areas alone in their hour of need.

Mr Shamsi said the MMA leaders had decided to continue their Namoos-i-Risalat movement to condemn the publication of blasphemous cartoons. The MMA leaders, he said, had also decided to consult other opposition parties and groups with the purpose of launching a decisive movement to oust the military rulers.