ISLAMABAD: Parliamentarians from tribal areas have decided not to support PPP candidate Asif Ali Zardari in the presidential election in protest against continuing military action in their region.

All senators and MNAs from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, except those belonging to the JUI-F, decided at a meeting on Thursday not to vote for Mr Zardari in protest against the government’s failure to accept their demand for halting the military operation.

Their parliamentary leader Munir Khan Aurakzai told this reporter that 15 MNAs and Senators were in the group.

He said that in another meeting on Friday the legislators would decide whom to support in the presidential election. “We will, however, not vote for Mr Zardari unless the operation is stopped,” he said.

Mr Aurakzai said the group had informed Mr Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and PM’s Adviser on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik about their grievances. He said that they had assured the group that the operation would be stopped but no practical steps were being taken.

It may be mentioned that the legislators had earlier offered conditional support to the PPP candidate. The government had promised that the military operation would be halted, especially during Ramazan. But the situation has worsened with an attack by US-led forces in South Waziristan on Thursday, leaving 20 people dead.