LANDI KOTAL: Differences over merger of tribal areas with Khyber Pakhunkhwa are affecting election campaign of Jamaat-i-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, the two major component parties of Mutahidda Majlas-i-Amal (MMA), in Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Although leaders of both the allied parties don’t acknowledge openly difficulties in poll campaign owing to differences over the future status of Fata, the workers at the lower tier stick hard to their respective point of view.

JI demands complete repeal of Frontier Crimes Regulation and merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prior to the upcoming general elections while JUI-F has made it abundantly clear at every forum that only the will of tribal people shall be acceptable while bringing about any administrative change in the militancy-affected region.

Workers of both JUI-F and JI seem confused

Talking to Dawn, JUI-F leader in Fata Mufti Abdul Shakoor dispelled the impression that their differences with JI over the merger issue would affect their election campaign in tribal region.

He said that MMA was formed with the sole objective of implementing an Islamic system in the country while the merger of Fata with KP was an issue of secondary nature. “Merger or otherwise is recent phenomenon and it could not affect the campaign process in Fata as leaders of all the MMA component parties have agreed to toe a joint election manifesto of implementation of Islamic system in the country,” said Mr Shakoor.

Belittling JI electoral influence in Fata, he said that the party had following only in Bajaur while JUI-F enjoyed support of its workers in the rest of tribal areas. “JI is bound to follow the MMA agenda during the upcoming elections. If a party goes against it, it will be guilty of violating the alliance agreement,” he said.

Mr Shakoor said that even JI central leader Liaquat Baloch had also said during the public meeting of MMA at Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore that the future of Fata would be decided by the people of the region and no decision would be imposed on them from outside.

JI former parliamentarian from Fata Sahibzada Haroon Rashid, however, said that both the parties would be running their election campaign in their respective areas of influence with their declared election manifesto.

“Doing away with FCR and merging Fata with KP is our declared policy and we will forcefully use this slogan during the upcoming elections,” he said.

However, he said that JUI-F being a democratic party also had the right to canvass in accordance with its own manifesto. “It is up to the electorate in Fata to decide which party they support on the issue of future status of Fata,” said Mr Rashid. Blaming federal government for its failure to implement its reforms package, he said that PML-N made JUI-F and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party scapegoats to hide its failure.

The workers of both the component parties of MMA are confused and bewildered as they have separate stance on the issue. They said that neither side would vote for the candidate of the opponent party when it came to deciding about the future status of Fata.

They believed that differences over the merger issue between two component parties of MMA would seriously harm their election results in tribal areas.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2018