MMA announces final list of candidates

ISLAMABAD: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) after its supreme council meeting on Wednesday announced its final list of candidates for the upcoming general elections.

The MMA President Maulana Fazlur Rehman during a press talk after the supreme council meeting did not rule out making government with Imran Khan when he was asked whether the alliance of five religious parties would be ready to join the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

“The options should be kept open in politics as the country cannot face any deadlock on formation of the government following the July 25 general elections,” the MMA president said.

Fazlur Rehman announced consensus candidates of the alliance from 191 National Assembly constituencies across the country. The supreme council of MMA also finalised its candidates from 404 constituencies of the four provincial assemblies, including 35 woman candidates, on general seats.

The meeting decided that the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) will field four candidates each from eight out of 12 National Assembly constituencies from tribal districts, while from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the candidates of JI have been awarded tickets from 11 NA constituencies.

“All issues have sorted out and there are no differences,” MMA central General Secretary Liaquat Baloch told The News.

Central Ameer of JI Senator Sirajul Haq, Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi, Liaquat Baloch, Professor Sajid Mir, Allama Shah Awais Noorani, Akram Khan Durrani, Allama Arif Wahidi, Asadullah Bhutto, Professor Muhammad Ibrahim, Allama Shafique Pasruri and other MMA leaders attended meeting which was convened to sort out differences which surfaced in the alliance when Maulana Fazlur Rehman took unilateral decisions while awarding tickets from various constituencies.

Fazlur Rehman told media persons after the meeting that the supreme council also decided to launch its mass contact campaign in Multan on July 13, in Rawalpindi on July 14 and hold a public meeting in Karachi on July 15.

The leadership of the MMA will visit Abbottabad and Malakand and adjoining areas on July 21 and 22 respectively.

Fazlur Rehman said the alliance of religious parties had completed homework to participate in the general elections in an organised manner while finalising list of consensus candidates.

“We are entering the general elections with renewed commitment and focus,” he said.

He said the MMA leadership did not want to create doubts about holding of fair and transparent elections, but the caretaker set up should also fulfil its responsibilities in this connection.

“We feel that grievances of all the political parties should be addressed,” he said, stressing that there should be no delay in the polling date.

To a question, the MMA president rejected some surveys in favour of some political parties, saying that results of such surveys, which are planted by some hidden powers, have nothing to do with ground realities.