Terming Qazi Hussain Ahmed’s resignation a “complete violation” of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) manifesto, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman has formally asked Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) to explain “in what capacity” Qazi resigned from the National Assembly. “The National Assembly seat was the property of MMA, not that of an individual or of a single political party. As part of a larger alliance, Qazi has violated the MMA manifesto and he is not allowed to take decisions in his individual capacity,” said Fazl in a press conference here on Wednesday.He said Qazi’s decision had startled him and his party. Subsequently, a JUI delegation met in Karachi with senior JI leaders, including Professor Ghafoor Ahmed, Syed Manwar Hassan and former Karachi City District Nazim Nimathullah Khan a few days ago. During the meeting, the JUI delegation asked the JI leadership how Qazi could resign without taking his own party and the MMA into confidence. “Qazi has to make it clear that either he does not abide by the JI party rules or JI should tell us that it does not abide by the MMA rules. Alliances do not function and survive like this. Individuals and single parties are always bound to respect the decision of the majority in a larger alliance,” he said. Fazl made it “clear and final” that “MMA will not resign from the present assemblies at any cost. Therefore, we should no longer be asked whether or not we are resigning from the assemblies”.
The JUI chief totally disowned district party leader Sheikh Ayub, who owned the house in Zhob in which leading Taliban commander Abdullah Meshood blew himself up on Tuesday. “The man who has been identified as a district leader of JUI no longer belongs to our party. He was expelled three months ago due to violation of party discipline. The government is conspiring to defame our party and portray it as an undemocratic party,” he said, stating also that the government had once launched a similar line of action against Jamaat-e-Islami.
Replying to a question, Fazl said the worsening law and order situation in the country and the new wave of suicide bombings in the tribal areas was an overt backlash against the operation carried out in Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid. He offered mediation between the government and the tribal leaders of Waziristan in the greater national interest. “This is our country and we have to save it from breaking. The end of the Waziristan peace accord between tribal elders and the government has only pleased the US and western countries. The country has been overtaken by a conflagration from all sides due to the wrong policies of the government,” he added.
According to Fazl, peace cannot be established in Waziristan unless the army fully withdraws from the tribal areas and the government respects the accord tribal elders had signed with the government, which envisaged complete internal autonomy for the tribal agencies. The leader of the opposition said his party would never negotiate with General Musharraf or any other dictator. He added that he regretted the news about Benazir Bhutto brokering a deal with the establishment.