LAHORE, Nov 18: Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Salim Saifullah Khan has said the government believed that Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal legislators will not quit their seats though the alliance has called a meeting of its lawmakers in Islamabad for Dec 7 and 8 to discuss a strategy to say goodbye to the assemblies.

Talking to Dawn on Saturday, he said lawmakers of the Jamaat-i-Islami could resign, but those belonging to the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F) would not. The MMA would also not quit NWFP and the Balochistan governments, he said.

The minister said the government had several options to deal with any situation that might be created by opposition parties. At most, the government might have to hold the general election a few months before it was due, and that would not be a problem at all.

The minister said though the ruling party would like the assemblies to complete their tenure, it was also prepared to go for early general election if the situation so required. He said performance of the ruling party was “enviable” and the MMA would face a crushing defeat in the next election.

Mr Khan said the MMA was caught in a Catch-22 position and it would face a difficult situation in case its legislators resigned and also if they did not.

He said MMA secretary-general Maulana Fazlu Rehman was trying to wriggle out of the situation and delay a decision on the resignations issue. “Their popularity has plummeted and they are digging their own graves,” he said.

“It won’t make any difference if the general election is held in March-April,” said the minister. However, he said, the ruling party would still prefer to let the assemblies complete their term and hold the election after a year.

He said the government would also face no problem in holding by-election on vacant seats if MMA lawmakers resigned.

Answering a question, he said that in a parliamentary system any law could be passed by the majority party and others were under obligation to accept it. He said the PML did not show the kind of reaction against the Hasba bill which the MMA had shown against the Protection of Women’s Rights bill.

The minister rejected Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s assertion that the MMA would not implement the women’s rights bill in the NWFP and Balochistan. He said a law passed by the National Assembly was for the entire country, and no province could be excluded.

He said a meeting of the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee would be held in Lahore on Nov 30 to discuss various issues.