PESHAWAR, Sept 23: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam faction of Maulana Sami-ul-Haq dissociated itself from the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal in the NWFP on Tuesday, giving first setback to the six-party alliance.

“We have waited for 10 long months. We have been treated like pariahs. This cannot go on,” Qazi Abdul Lateef said after presiding over the JUI-S executive council meeting here.

“The decision needs to be endorsed by party’s provincial and central Shuras,” he said.

The party has convened provincial Shura meeting in Abbottabad on Oct 5 to see whether to ratify the decision of the provincial executive council.

The JUI-S has been demanding a cabinet slot for its MPA and more development funds for its members.

It has two members, including the deputy speaker, in the provincial assembly and two members in the federal legislature.

The MMA has a total of 69 members in the house of 124. The decision by the JUI-S to dissociate itself from the alliance could further narrow down MMA’s majority.

Provincial assembly deputy speaker Ikramullah Shahid, Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz, MNA, and general secretary Syed Yousaf Shah were present in the meeting.

“The attitude of the two major components of the MMA — Jamaat-i-Islami and JUI-F — with smaller parties was unbearable. Therefore, in the present situation we can’t go along together,” Qazi Abdul Latif said while talking to Dawn at the deputy speaker’s chamber.

“The party has not withdrawn from the MMA for any mala fide attention or bargaining. We have taken this extreme step due to the insulting attitude of the JI and the JUI-F,” he said.

He further said that the JUI-S would decide whether to sit on the opposition benches or adopt neutral stand in the NWFP assembly. “Let the two bodies (of the party) decide about complete separation from the MMA then we will decide about the future line of action,” he added.

Holding the JI and the JUI-F responsible for the separation, Qazi Latif said the two major parties had hijacked the alliance which promoted a sense of deprivation among smaller factions of the alliance.

He said the overall performance of the MMA at central and provincial levels remained very poor and its main leadership was bent upon insulting their own parliamentarians. He said the JUI-S had adopted very clear stand on the Legal Framework Order and strongly opposed one-man show in the country.

Explaining immediate reasons for separation from the MMA, he complained that MNA Shah Abdul Aziz, affiliated with the JUI-S, was insulted a few days back while the activists of the JUI-F attacked their seminary in Mardan on Monday when federal petroleum minister Norez Shakoor was there to address a function.

Two JUI-F MPAs were wounded in the subsequent police baton charge and teargas.