GUJRANWALA, Feb 22: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal is being seen as a political entity in tatters, especially in this part of Punjab, where its vote bank has recorded a marked decline in contrast with the 2002 election.

Religious scholars having association with the MMA have expressed concern over the alarming decline, describing the plunge as an outcome of the alliance’s support for the 17th amendment legitimising the Provincial Constitution Order and other steps (they call extrajudicial) adopted by Pervez Musharraf.

As goes the statistics, the MMA aspirants obtained around 175,000 votes collectively in 2002 and captured a seat each in national and provincial assemblies. Maulana Qazi Hamidullah won the polls in NA-96 and Maulana Ghulam Farid Hazarvi made his mark in PP-93. However, the MMA lost its Punjab Assembly seat in the byelection when its MPA-elect passed away and PML-Q aspirant Engineer Ashraf Butt was declared successful.

Now Feb 18, 2008 scenario. The MMA was divided into two groups over the issue of participation in the election. The Jamaat-i-Islami and few other parties boycotted the election while the Jamiat Ahle Hadith and some others fielded their aspirants for the both rung of assemblies. They could hardly make their presence felt as they got a few thousand votes and got a drubbing at the hands of the PML-N and the PPP.

Maulana Hamidullah, who bagged more than 39,000 votes in the 2002 polls, could chip in with 2,600 this time round. The number of votes other aspirants of religious parties bagged sum up to a few hundred.

PML-N: The PML-N doesn’t believe in horse-trading to form its government in the centre or in Punjab and PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari and N-league’s Nawaz Sharif have already agreed to form coalition.

This was stated by PML-N joint secretary and MNA-elect from NA-96 Khurram Dastagir Khan while he was talking to Dawn after returning from Islamabad here on Friday.

He hoped that the coalition government would restore the deposed judges and win confident of the people.

CARICATURES: Activists of religious parties and students of the Anjuman Tulaba Islami took out a procession on Friday to condemn re-publication of sketches by Danish newspapers.