PESHAWAR, Oct 25: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, which is going to install a Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal-backed government in the NWFP, has advised its provincial assembly members-elect to stay at the JUI-run seminaries rather than at hotels during the assembly session.

A spokesman for the JUI, Mufti Kifayatullah, told Dawn here on Friday that whenever the maiden session of the provincial assembly was convened, their MPAs-elect would make their sojourn at Darul Uloom Sarhad, Assia Gate, and Darul Qura, Namakmandi.”We have asked them not to stay at hotels as it will cost too much to the national exchequer,” he said.

The MPAs’ hostel had been converted into the regional office of the National Accountability Bureau. When NAB would vacate it, it would take a long time to get it renovated.

The JUI spokesman said the MMA had decided to bring far-reaching changes in the system, which was a carry-over of British imperialism, and introduce a welfare-oriented and simple Islamic order in the province.

The MMA would curtail all non-development expenditures, which hampered the development projects, and divert the funds towards other mega projects, he said.

He said the MMA had provided an outline of its agenda during the  election and it would be implemented after the formation of its government. “The final decision on all issues would be made by the MMA’s central body,” he said.

“We are trend-setters. Our government will root out all forms of repression in the society. We will remove all artificial barriers which keep the people at a distance from the government,” he said.

The MMA-backed NWFP government would clean the law enforcement agencies of black sheep and restore the confidence of people in those agencies, he said.

He said the chief minister-designate, Akram Khan Durrani, and his cabinet members would be answerable to the people and the MMA leadership. They would work for the betterment of the people, he said.

About a controversial statement issued by Jamaat-i-Islami’s local organization two days ago, he said the MMA leadership would go through it and decide the issue.

He expressed his hope that MMA president Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani would endorse their decision on merit and make an announcement on Oct 30. “We think it is a non-issue. The main thing is how to make the MMA a strong voice of the people in future. The people pin great hopes in the MMA,” he added.