LAHORE: The constituent parties have in principle agreed to revive the defunct six-party religio-political alliance Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA).

This was announced by Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq at a late-night press conference here on Thursday.

President of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Maulana Fazlur Reh­man, Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakis­tan chief Pir Ijaz Hashmi and leaders of three other constituent parties were present on the occasion.

A formal decision, Mr Haq said, would be made at a summit meeting to be held in December.

Formed in 2002, the MMA ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2002 to 2007 before it became dormant after developing internal rifts.

In 2008 and 2013 polls, MMA constituents could not win much support. The JUI-F tried to revive it before the 2013 polls but then JI emir Syed Munawwar Hasan did not oblige. With renewed vigour, JUI-F secretary general Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri has recently held a series of meetings with leaders of other MMA members and convinced the new JI leadership to assemble on one platform for contesting the 2018 polls.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2017