ISLAMABAD Jan 16: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) has formally demanded of president Pervez Musharraf and prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali to appoint new governors of its choice in the NWFP and Balochistan provinces.

NWFP chief minister Akram Khan Durrani in his recent meetings with the two had forwarded some names of the alliance’s choice, sources said.

MMA deputy secretary-general Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said the alliance leaders had certainly echoed their desire for the appointment of governors of their choice in order to make the governance of the two provinces smooth where it was in majority.

The MMA, which rules the NWFP as a single largest party, is not feeling easy working with the incumbent governor, Lt-Gen Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah (retired), who is the nominee of president Musharraf and has completed almost three years, sources in Peshawar told Dawn.

The alliance, however, is not sure whether it would be consulted when the president, in consultation with the prime minister, decides to change guards there. So far as Balochistan is concerned, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, which is leading the provincial government, has already asked the centre for changing the governor.

A number of names, including Sarwar Kakar and Sardar Gul Mohammad, have already been appearing in the press but final decision is still awaited.

Similarly, the name of the Corps Commander 11 Corps, Lt-Gen Ahmed Jan Orakzai, has also emerged as a strong candidate to replace Iftikhar Hussain to take over as the NWFP governor.

The MMA leader, without disclosing the names of those proposed as priority for appointment as governors in the two provinces, said such an arrangement would be fruitful for the centre as well.

He said if the governors in the two provinces were appointed without consulting the MMA it would start a confrontation between the chief ministers and the governors and also soar the centre-provinces relations.

Hafiz Hussain said the NWFP chief minister in his meetings with the high-ups in Islamabad had also echoed the concern prevailing in the NWFP over the FBI-led raids on religious institutions as well as the tribal areas.