PESHAWAR, Nov 22: The NWFP Chief Minister, Akram Khan Durrani, here on Monday said that the decision regarding his participation in the forthcoming meeting of the National Security Council would be decided by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal's supreme council.
"I am bound by the MMA's supreme council's meeting and whatever decision it takes with regard to my attending the NSC meeting I would go by that," said Mr Durrani while talking to newsmen here at a local hotel.
Rejecting the impression that there was a split in the ranks of the MMA's top leadership over the issue of his participation in the NSC meeting, Mr Durrani said that it was not an issue to cause harm to MMA's unity.
The matter, he said, would be discussed in the supreme council's meeting as the decision could not be taken by any one party of the alliance unilaterally. "Islam also asks for consultation (Mushawarat) and the decision to attend the NSC meeting would be taken by the supreme council with mutual consent of all the component parties of the alliance," said Mr Durrani.
When asked that the alliance's two major parties, i.e. his Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazal) and Jamaat-i-Islami were divided over the issue of his attending the forthcoming NSC meeting, he said that "the MMA is not an alliance of only these two parties and the decision would be taken by the supreme council which consists of representatives of all the six component parties forming the alliance".
The decision, he maintained, would be taken by the representatives of all the six parties. He said that representatives of the provincial chapter of the JUI(F) had been invited to the next meeting of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal's supreme council to explain their point of view - in respect of their recommendation that the NWFP chief minister should attend the NSC meeting.
In its recently held meeting, the executive council of the NWFP chapter of JUI-F had taken the stand that there was no harm in Chief Minister Akram Durrani's going to the NSC meeting for being chief executive of the province.
The council members had taken the stand that the chief minister should participate in the NSC meeting to present NWFP's case there. Mr Durrani, on Monday, said that it was a recommendation of the provincial organization and its office-bearers had been invited to the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal's supreme council meeting to explain their point of view.