PESHAWAR, Oct 19: The Frontier province may have a fragile opposition in view of the unexpected landslide victory of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and its political allies in the Oct 10 elections in the NWFP.

Out of the 99 general seats, in a house with a total strength of 124 members including 22 reserved seats for women and three for minorities, the MMA has won 48 seats becoming the single-leading group in the provincial assembly.

Except for the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP), no other political party having representation in the NWFP Assembly has announced to sit on the opposition benches.

All other groups including PPP (Sherpao), PML(N), PML(Q), Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) have assured cooperation to the MMA-led future government in the province.

Though the parliamentary party of the PPP(S) will meet here on Saturday to decide its future line of action, there is a chance that the PPP(S), PML(Q) and PML(N) having a total strength of 24 candidates would support the MMA in the assembly without claiming any share in the new provincial government.

In the present scenario dominated by the comfortably positioned MMA, all of them— PPP(S), PML(Q) and PML(N)— have announced to extend their ‘unconditional’ support to the MMA. In view of this assurance to the religious alliance, political observers believe that these parties are not expecting a share in the next provincial government.

Whereas the PPP(S) and PML(Q) remained in the electoral alliance with the MMA at the Charsadda district level. Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan of the PML(N), in a post-election contact with the MMA leaders, has also extended an unconditional support to the alliance.

Apart from these parties, the PTI has also assured the MMA leadership of its cooperation in the assembly. The party, having only one MPA in the provincial assembly, claimed that an independently elected member, Shahzada Gostasib, had got elected with the PTI support.

Similarly, seven of the 14 independently elected MPAs have opted to join the MMA raising coalition’s parliamentary strength to 55.

In a house of 124 members, the ruling coalition may face real opposition by the ANP and PPP who jointly have 16 MPAs. They may further increase their strength by getting their share in the special seats reserved for women and minorities.

This would be the second consecutive assembly in the NWFP which would start with a fragile opposition involving around 10 per cent of the total strength of the house.

The last assembly elected in 1997, too, had started with an 11-member opposition bloc having only MPAs of the PPP and one belonging to the JUI(F)— Akram Ullah Khan Durani who has been nominated by the MMA for the NWFP chief minister office.

Apart from lagging far behind in the game of numbers, the possibility of both the main opposition parties, the ANP and PPP, not forming a joint opposition bloc, would further cause dent to the already fragile opposition in the province.

Talking to Dawn Bashir Ahmed Bilour, ANP’s parliamentary party leader, said that though the ANP and PPP had an electoral alliance at some of the NWFP districts, their agreeing to continue cooperation in the assembly appeared to be unlikely.

“We want to continue that cooperation, but certainly it is premature to say that they would form a joint opposition bloc,” Bilour said when contacted.