LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), Aug 6: Awami National Party Vice-President Imran Afridi said on Friday that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s government was hoping to capitalize Hasba bill.

Speaking at a gathering of party workers in the Sadokhel area, Mr Afridi said that by passing the Hasba bill in the provincial assembly, the MMA government was trying to hide its inability to solve the problems of the poor masses.

The Hasba bill is being used as an election gimmick by the Maulvis, he added.

The MMA is not interested in enforcing Shariat in the province, Mr Afridi said, adding that the maulvis were trying to hoodwink the masses in the name of religion.

He criticized the MMA leadership for its double standard on women’s participation in the elections. He said that on the one hand they were barring women for contesting the polls in the name of Islam and, on the other, they had got their female relatives elected to the National and provincial assemblies.

Speaking on the occasion, Khyber Agency ANP President Abdur Rahim Afridi demanded an immediate end to army operation in Waziristan and accused religious extremists of meeting the situation in the tribal areas worse.

He also demanded that the jurisdiction of the Political Parties Act be extended to the tribal areas without further delay.

The gathering through a resolution welcomed the removal of the Frontier Constabulary from check-posts in the tribal areas and asked the Khyber Rifles to stop the construction of a picket in Charwazgai.