MMA Again: The light in the end of tunnel for Fazal ur Rehman

by Tauqeer Abbas
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Over the revival of six-party MMA after the lapse of 10 years, various political parties have given their reaction.

 

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has described the restoration of MMA as a feat of the establishment. It has expressed fear about the MMA and said that it is an alliance of outlawed parties under the patronage of the establishment.

 

 

PPP Secretary General Senator Farhatullah Babar said that restoration of MMA is a part of the plan to covertly exploit Taliban.  He added that restoration of MMA and taking part in the general elections by Defence of Pakistan Council (DPC) will give a push to the plan for bringing Taliban into the mainstream.

 

 

 

He informed that MMA had its inception in 2002 during General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf’s rule, and questioned who was behind the plan this time.

 

 

 

Peshawar University’s International Relations Department’s Dr Ijaz Khattak was asked if December 15 will be seen as the day the MMA is revived, he replied he was not hopeful.

 

 

Apart from the JUI-S, the JI and JUI-F have many differences in opinion on key issues which include the Fata merger with K-P, Panama Papers case and Nawaz Sharif’s corruption, especially since the JI supports the PTI in K-P and the JUI-F is PML-N’s coalition partner in the government.

 

Discussing Sami’s role in the MMA, Khattak said although the JUI-S had no electoral strength in K-P in the presence of the JUI-F and the JI, they had their own standing in religious circles.

 

However, Khattak said if revived, the MMA would not be as impressive as it was in 2002, as times have changed drastically.

 

However, Pakistan Studies Department chairperson Dr Fakhrul Islam is hopeful about the religious party’s revival as promised by the leadership. He said that the revival of the party is demanded by almost the entire religious sphere. Dismissing the alliance between Sami and PTI, he said that even though Sami and his seminary have a legacy it will not impact the MMA, as JUI-S does not have any electoral background.

 

He further shed light on how even when Sami was a part of the MMA, between 2002 to 2008, he had more issues with the JI and JUI-F than with MMA opponents, clearly highlighting his unhappiness even then.

 

Islam’s view was that although the MMA will feel Sami’s absence in the alliance but at the same time the party will gladly live without the pressure that his presence brings, in the form of criticism for MMA policies.

 

pk.shafaqna.com

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