The row between the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) over using the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) platform and symbol in the next elections has intensified.Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri of the JUI-F told Daily Times that his party would take part in the elections from the MMA platform and use its symbol, a book, if the JI or any other component party of the religious alliance decided to boycott the election.
He said that the JUI-F had opposed an election boycott in WednesdayÂ’s meeting of the MMA Supreme Council, insisting that if a major party like the Pakistan PeopleÂ’s Party (PPP) chooses to take part in the elections, the MMA should follow suit.
He said that the MMA election symbol, a book, was not the property of a single party and the JUI-F would certainly use it in the coming elections.
However, JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, as the MMA president, had asked JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman not to use the MMAÂ’s platform and its symbol in the polls.
Ticket problems: The JI and JUI-F are also at odds over the issuance of MMA tickets for the national and Balochistan assemblies, sources told Daily Times.
The sources said that around 65 constituencies of the national and Balochistan assemblies had become a contentious point between the two parties. The JUI-F had named candidates for these constituencies on November 24 without consulting the JI or other parties of the MMA.
Recently, the Balochistan chapter of the MMA replaced Muhammad Khan Shirani of the JUI-F with Maulana Abdul Haq Hashmi of the JI as their president, to the displeasure of Maulana Fazl and his party members.
Sources said that the matter came under discussion in the MMA Supreme Council meeting on Wednesday, where Ahmed wanted MMA Balochistan leaders to finalise candidatesÂ’ names after consulting all component parties.