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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| âReal MMAâ to support anti-MMA candidates in by-elections |
| 2004-04-23 |
| Cracks are deepening within the six-party religious alliance, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal. The alliance has been beset with internal problems for the past year. The smaller component parties, especially Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam of Maulana Sami-ul Haq, are unhappy with the two bigger parties, the Jamaâat-e Islami and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam of Fazlur Rehman. But things seem to be spinning out of control now. The JUI-S has decided not to support the MMA candidates in the upcoming by-elections on the vacant seats for the national and provincial assemblies. Instead, it wants to support those candidates who would promote âthe real causeâ for which the MMA had been set up two years ago, JUI-S sources have told TFT. âWe have decided not to support the MMAâs candidates and work for those who really deserve it and will help us in our cause to make Pakistan a true Islamic society,â says JUI-S deputy secretary general, Mufti Usman Yar Khan. A formal announcement to this decision will be made on Sunday (April 25) in the Difa-e-Pakistan convention of the JUI-S in Karachi in which most of the 36 parties and individuals from the erstwhile Milli Yakjehti Council and Difa-e-Afghanistan Council will participate, party leaders say. TFT reported two weeks ago that the JUI-S was planning to expand the alliance in order to break the monopoly of the two bigger parties. Insiders say it is likely to use the April 25 gathering to this purpose. The main, and for many political analysts, the only objective of the convention is to announce âanother MMAâ in the end. Interestingly, the JUI-S has already sent invitations for the convention to Imran Khanâs Tehrik-e-Insaf and General (Retd) Aslam Begâs Awami Qayadat Party. The party will also contact Hafiz Mohammad Saeedâs Jamaâat-ud Dawa (the reincarnated version of the banned Lashkar-e Taiba) and the proscribed Jaish-e Mohammad. A prominent presence at the convention will be the former DG-ISI, Lt-Gen Hameed Gul. A target rich environment. The local leaders of the banned Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan (reincarnated version of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan) say they will attend the convention. âYes, we have got a formal invitation from the JUI-S leadership and we will attend their convention in Karachi,â MIPâs provincial spokesman, Qari Shafiqur Rehman told TFT. According to him, participating in the convention should not be taken as his partyâs decision to join the JUI-Sâs MMA. But he made it clear that the party was not concerned about its legal status or the consequences of joining a mainstream alliance despite having been banned by the government. âIf a Shia banned group (Allama Sajid Naqviâs Tehrik-e-Islami) can be a component of the MMA and enjoy open support of Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Qazi Hussain Ahmed, why canât we be part of an allianceâ he says, adding: âThere is a precedent and our joining another religious alliance will not be a violation of law.â When TFT asked the JUI-S leaders about the MIP leaderâs opinion on this count, they backed him. On the other hand, the fact that a banned organisation is able to run for election means the JUI-S shouldnât have anything to worry about. JUI-S sources say their leaders met the Lashkar leader Hafiz Mohammad Saeed recently in Lahore where the proposal for inducting Dawa into a new alliance was discussed. The JUI-S leaders have also held meetings with General Hameed Gul. It looks like the "Real MMA" is going to be made up mostly of hardcore Deobandi/Wahabi parties, while the MMA will remain a party of all sects. Unless it disintegrates even further. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |