PESHAWAR, March 1: The provincial “shura” of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has asked constituent parties of the alliance not to nominate candidates directly for the forthcoming general election.

The decision was taken at a meeting held at Al Markaz-i-Islami here on Thursday, said a press release. MMA provincial chief Senator Gul Naseeb Khan presided over the meeting.

The meeting decided that the alliance would nominate candidates on performance basis for national and provincial assemblies’ seats. Sitting ministers would also be awarded tickets on the basis of their performance.

It said the MMA provincial shura would not allot tickets to candidates nominated directly by component parties of the alliance.

The meeting was convened to discuss arrangements for the next election and organisation of the alliance at district, zonal and tehsil levels across the province. Component parties agreed to contest the polls from the MMA platform.

Later, briefing journalists, Senator Gul Naseeb expressed concern over the presence of the Nato forces in Afghanistan and feared that deployment of foreign troops in the neighbouring country could jeopardise the security of the tribal area. He demanded immediate withdrawal of the Nato forces from Afghanistan.

He said if America attacked Iran, the people of Pakistan would back the Iranians against the foreign aggression.

Regarding the recent suicide attacks in the province, he said Islam did not permit faithful to blow up themselves.