|
MMA differences create pandemonium in Peshawar politics
The differences among the component parties of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has heightened and anything can happen anytime, said Farid Khan Toofan, provincial general secretary of the Awami National Party (ANP), on Monday. It was always an unnatural alliance anyway, the only thing the Shiâite, Deobandi, Wahabi and Brevhli parties had in common was ignorance, corruption and violence. Mr Toofan said Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, central leaders of the MMA, had been demanding the removal of the provincial governor for quite some time. However, a few days back when the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) provincial ministers refused to attend a cabinet meeting because of differences with Chief Minister Akram Durrani, Mr Durrani and Mr Rehman met the governor, patched up their differences and implicitly supported the Wana operation. Fazl has always been willing to make deals with the establishment, and it looks like he will do so once again. Qazi takes this whole Jihad thing a little more seriously. In reply to their meeting with the governor, Mr Toofan said Qazi Hussain, who is also JI ameer, met the prime minister, despite the MMAâs boycott of talks with the government. He said Mr Rehman said that he was not one to be pressured and his messenger the provincial law minister to Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, federal minister for Water and Power. Following the meeting, rumours were ripe that the JUI-F, Pakistan Peopleâs Party-Sherpao and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam would form a coalition government in the NWFP, he said. Which would consist of a pro-Musharraf faction bought off from the MMA, another group bought off from the PPP, and a third group consisting of a half a dozen different Pakistan Muslim League factions merged together. Thatâs politics. He said the JUI-F had designed a policy to entice the JI to quit the MMA on its own. Mr Toofan said the JI and the JUI-F recently led separate rallies against the Wana operation in Peshawar, despite having the same policy on it. He said the differences between both the parties would certainly affect the political situation in the province. Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-04-20 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=31005 |