LAHORE, Dec 11: Suffering a colossal loss in the Feb 18 electoral bout owing to non-functional Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), the JUI-F, one of the major constituents of the religious parties’ alliance, is looking for a way out to revive the grouping.
But Jamaat-i-Islami, another major MMA component that had announced disbanding of the alliance, is not ready to restore it in any way.
The alliance had bagged over 65 National Assembly seats and formed governments in the NWFP and Balochistan provinces (coalition with the PML-Q in the latter case).
Except the JUI-F the other five constituents boycotted the February 2008 polls. As a result the JUI-F could win only three NA seats and, unlike in the past, it also failed to form provincial governments in NWFP and Balochistan.
Rift between both the parties had started brewing in the very beginning when the alliance, that was originally made to curb rising sectarian strife in the country, was turned into a political entity before the 2002 general election and activists from Jamaat and the JUI-F contested against each other from several seats.
The former claims that it lost at least eight seats in the NWFP because of the division.
Their discord intensified when JUI-F’s NWFP chief minister, allegedly under a deal with the then army dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf, did not dissolve the provincial assembly to keep the electoral college for presidential polls intact and thus providing an opportunity to Musharraf to run for a second term in the presidency.
The last nail into the MMA coffin was driven when the Jamaat and a couple of other components decided boycott of the February general election to protest curbs on judiciary and imposition of emergency by Gen Musharraf. But the JUI-F stood for contesting the polls, terming both the problems non-issues.
But the elections results proved to be a shock for the JUI-F.
The party discussed the losses at its various forums and decided to patch up with the Jamaat for reviving the alliance, says its spokesman Riaz Durrani.
Optimistic about the revival of the alliance, Durrani contends the issues that had become the basis for the constitution of the MMA exited with more severity today.
Declaring that his party still accepts JI amir Qazi Husain Ahmad as the alliance chief, he, however, holds the Jamaat responsible for the damage. Qazi, according to him, made the grouping non-functional without consulting other colleagues.
He says that the JUI-F did not contribute to the break-up of the MMA.
To materialize the revival plan, Hafiz Husain Ahmad, a central leader of the JUI-F, with the consent of party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, approached JUP secretary-general Qari Zawwar Bahadur for an informal meeting of the MMA leaders at the latter’s residence. (The meeting was held last Friday.) He argued that pressure from the lower cadre could force the elders to shun their differences and sit together.
Tehrik-i-Islami that represents Shia school of thought in the MMA, is the other constituent which is feeling the pinch of the absence of the alliance due to eruption of sectarian strife in Dera Ismail Khan and Northern Areas.
Tehrik’s Allama Jalil Naqvi joined Mr Ahmad and took upon himself to bring leaders of the Jamaat and other parties to the meeting.
Qari Zawwar says Mr Ahmad had been goading him for the last one month for the meeting, arguing that a couple of such gatherings would ultimately melt the ice and pave the way for the senior leadership to come closer.
There is a feeling among all the parties that disbanding of the alliance has benefited others at the cost of the religious forces, but what should be the practical way to reverse the situation is not in sight, admits the JUP leader.
JI spokesperson Anwar Niazi says though his party is ready to go out of the way for religious harmony, there is no chance for the revival of the MMA either as an electoral alliance or for a pure religious cause.
“We are not ready to carry the MMA baggage,” he categorically states.