PESHAWAR, Dec 6: The NWFP chapter of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal on Wednesday ruled out any compromise on the Protection of Women Act and asked PML(Q) president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to resign from the National Assembly in line with the promise he made during deliberations there.

It said the ulema committee had found the law un-Islamic and now it was incumbent upon the PML(Q) president to resign. The provincial spokesman for the MMA, Hakeem Abdul Waheed, said the decision regarding resignations by MMA lawmakers had already been taken by the party’s Supreme Council and the only thing now left was a decision over the methodology to be adopted for this purpose.

“The Supreme Council will decide whether to requisition the National Assembly session for submitting the resignations or to hand them over to the Speaker in his chamber," Mr Waheed said.

In response to a question about the apparent support given to the Act by members of the Council of Islamic Ideology, the MMA leader asserted that most of its members had individually endorsed the MMA stance.

He termed the talks between Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and some ulema a farce and claimed that during the meeting the religious scholars had reminded Mr Shujaat of his resignation commitment “but he (Mr Shujaat) had now backed out of his promise”.

Mr Waheed condemned President Musharraf's remarks against the MMA at a women's convention and said that he should not have used words like “hypocrite” while referring to the ulema.

He expressed his concern over the arrest, and release, of an IB official for allegedly planting explosive material near the Chief Minister Secretariat. He added that some elements wanted to disturb peaceful atmosphere of the province by creating law and order situation.