The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) has not agreed to back anti-government rallies in NWFP and Balochistan, so the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has decided to postpone the rallies, MMA sources told Daily Times on Wednesday.According to the sources, MMA Balochistan President Maulana Muhammad Khan Shirani believes rallies in Balochistan and NWFP would harm the provincial governments. The MMA is a coalition partner in the Balochistan government and runs the NWFP government.
The MMA has announced a schedule of protest rallies in Punjab and Sindh. The rallies will be held in Punjab on January 22 and 23 and in Sindh on January 29, 30 and 31. No schedule for rallies in the other two provinces has been announced. In both provinces, the JUI-F has more street power and seats than any other party of the MMA, so the alliance cannot go ahead with protests there without the JUI-F, said the sources, adding that this was the second time the MMA faced such a situation. The JUI-F had previously backed down from the MMA decision to quit the assemblies, and now it disagrees with the alliance about holding rallies in the provinces where it has public support, said the sources.
They said that at the MMA Supreme Council meeting of December 7, the JUI-F had agreed to organise demonstrations, in collaboration with other opposition parties against the government, but it had now changed its decision.
Earlier, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed was supposed to attend the MMA Supreme Council meeting, but the JUI-F leadership later asked Abdul Ghafoor Haideri to attend in his stead. Hafiz Hussain is the only JUI-F leader who supports the decision to resign from the assemblies. “The JUI-F, fearing potential problems if Hafiz was at the meeting, decided to send Haideri instead,” the sources said.