LAHORE, Dec 2: Apprehensions of governor’s rule in the NWFP and Balochistan forced the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) to join hands with the PML-Q in Balochistan.

“We had apprehended that the federal government would impose governor’s rule both in the NWFP and in Balochistan if it could not manage to bring the Q League in power in the home province of Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali,” said Punjab MMA president Hafiz Muhammad Idrees at an Iftar-dinner here on Monday.

He said going with the PML-Q did not mean that the MMA had deviated from its declared policies. It would oppose the federal as well as provincial governments if they tried to introduce wrong policies.

Demanding immediate convening of the Sindh Assembly session, Hafiz Idrees, who is also provincial Jamaat-i-Islami amir, said postponement was regrettable on the part of the government.

Answering a question, he said the MMA had not struck any alliance with the PML-N and electoral cooperation between the two parties in the Oct 10 polls was limited to Lahore district only.

Talks were being held with the PML-N for the continuation of the cooperation in the by-election as well, he said, adding the two could field joint candidates, one each, for the two Punjab Assembly seats in Lahore.

The cooperation could benefit both the parties against PML-Q candidates, he said.

He criticized Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi for creating forward blocs in rival parties in the province though the ‘King’s Party’ enjoyed a comfortable majority to run the government.

He said immediately after the Punjab Assembly had given him the vote of confidence, Chaudhry Pervaiz should have announced some relief package for the poor instead of declaring the Zahoor Palace as the ‘Chief Minister’s House’ and allocating a hefty amount for its upkeep.

He reminded the CM that three people had committed suicide due to poverty the day he attained the vote of confidence.

He saw a bleak future ahead for the new government because of what he said intra-party differences in the PML-Q and the induction of those in the cabinet who were wanted by the NAB.

He welcomed the MMA supreme council’s decision of supporting Mir Jamali in case of a no-confidence vote against him.