PESHAWAR, July 6: Differences over seat adjustment for the up-coming local council polls in Peshawar district has put the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) in a difficult situation as five of its component parties have decided to form a separate electoral alliance, Muttahida Millat-i-Amal. The move has apparently isolated the Jamaat-i-Islami, the second largest component of the MMA after Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazlur Rehman). The JUI-F has already joined hands with other parties in several districts of the province against the JI.
A senior leader of the JI told this correspondent that the formation of the alliance could pose threat to the MMA, but the JI would not close its door for negotiations.
JI provincial vice-president Hakeem Abdul Waheed said: “This move can undermine the unity of the religious alliance and certainly the supreme council of the MMA will take the matter very serioussly.”
He said that despite wide differences the JI would give preference to the religious parties in seat adjustment. However, the JI would not ignore other parties including the PPP and PML-N, he said.
He claimed that the JI-backed Al Khaidmat group had been approached by People’s Party Parliamentarians, Awami National Party and PML-N for seat-to-seat adjustment at union council level.
The Muttahida Millat-i-Amal, led by JUI-F, has rejected Jamaat-i-Islami’s offer to contest polls from the platform of the Muttahida Khidmat-i-Amal (MKA) formed by the JI.
Haji Ihsanul Haq, a senior leader of the JUI-F, accused the Jamaat of backing out of the deal by forming the MKA, which forced other five parties to create another alliance at district level.
“We will accept the JI to join the new alliance with certain conditions,” Mr Ihsan said, adding that five parties were ready for seats adjustment with all political parties including the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy and the ruling PML.
He said that the five component parties of the alliance had agreed to field joint candidates at union council level in the Peshawar district.
The Muttahida Millat-i-Amal comprises JUI-F, Jamiat-Ulema-i-Islam (Sami), Ahle-i-Hadiat (Sajid Mir group), Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (Noorani) and Tehreek-i-Islami Pakistan of Alama Sajid Naqvi.