July 01, 2007	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 15, 1428

LAHORE, June 30: The Sunday (today) meeting of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Supreme Council is not likely to take any loud and clear stance pertaining to its input at the upcoming London multi-party conference as the religious alliance’s main components are reported to have divergent views on crucial political issues.

The MMA has been deferring decisions on vital issues like en-bloc resignations from assemblies, dissociation from the coalition government in Balochistan and a possible boycott of polls if Gen Musharraf insisted on seeking his re-election in uniform. Even now, when they have to decide a joint line of action ahead of London MPC, the MMA components still remain unable to overcome the differences.

The only resolve the MMA’s 24-member policy-making body may be able to make, is to leave all the important issues to be decided by the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy-sponsored multi-party conference which is being hosted by the PML-N.

However, according to sources, the MMA will not make this `state of indecision’ public but feign that it has formulated its line of action for the London moot.

According to MMA sources, the Jamaat-i-Islami is in favour of collective resignations, parting ways with the ruling coalition in Balochistan and even boycotting the coming elections if President Gen Musharraf keeps on refusing to shed his uniform.

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, the other major component, is learnt to be in total disagreement with the Jamaat approach for a variety of reasons. The JI has support of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan and a group of the JUI (Seniors) while the JUI’s stance is being favoured by the Markazi Jamiat Ahal-i-Hadith, the Pakistan Islami Tehrik and the other section of the JUI (Seniors). The amir of the JUI (Seniors) is the supporter of Qazi Husain Ahmad while its secretary general is close to Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s views.

According to the sources, Maulana Fazlur Rehman is of the view that his party could go for poll boycott and en bloc resignations from the national and provincial assemblies only if all other players, including the Pakistan People’s Party, adopt the same strategy. As for the issue of parting ways with the coalition in Balochistan, the Maulana understands that if he insisted on this, his party might be divided in the province where Maulana Mohammad Khan Sheerani is holding the political sway more than anybody else. The sources say he also believes that if the MMA takes such a ‘drastic’ decision, the PPP and other secular parties will be benefited in elections more than the JUI, particularly in the NWFP where it is in the government. He fears that in such an eventuality, his party will also lose its political foothold in the NWFP, they add.

For all practical purposes, the important session of the MMA’s Supreme Council is likely to once again remain non-committed on all the critical issues and only adopt a vague resolution reiterating its stand that the president should step down, a caretaker government of national consensus be established, an independent election commission constituted and the next elections be supervised by the judiciary.

Another item on the meeting’s agenda which is likely to remain undecided is the formation of a joint MMA delegation for the MPC. Since the ARD has invited all the MMA parties in their independent capacity, all the parties are learnt to have already made their own arrangements for their leaders’ journey to London. The JI and the JUI have reportedly decided to send four leaders each while the Pakistan Islami Tehrik has chosen three representatives.

The JUP may send two of its leaders who may not include the party chief Shah Mohammad Ans Noorani who is said to have a pressing domestic engagement. As for the MJAH, only its chief Prof Sajid Mir is expected to proceed to London.

The only point on which MMA’s components are expected to have a consensus is alliance’s road caravan whose two-day second phase is scheduled to start from Sahiwal on July 2 and terminate the next day at Layyah.