GUJRAT: The seat adjustment of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) with the likeminded parties can’t be ruled out at the local level; however, for the time being the electoral alliance of five religious political parties is going through its final stage through its own representatives at the district and provincial level after which the central parliamentary board would allot the tickets to the potential candidates.

This was stated by Jamaat-i- Islami secretary general Liaqat Baloch while talking to Dawn on Sunday.

He said in 2002, the MMA had not received as many applications for the allotment of tickets as it had been receiving after its recent revival as previously the people did not expect the rise of religious alliance as a strong parliamentary force but now the MMA did have a good number of applicants who wanted to contest the election from its platform.

“There are some constituencies where the MMA faced difficulties in finalising the candidates due to interest shown by the component parties; however, such differences would be resolved by the MMA’s supreme council.”

Responding to a question, Mr Baloch predicted a close contest between the candidates of the MMA and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP) and added that the MMA had better chances in Balochistan as well as the urban parts of Sindh such as Karachi and Hyderabad whereas in Punjab the MMA had its pockets of votes in across the province.

The JI leader said the consistency of democratic process and completion of five years tenure of the assemblies for the third time had brought about political maturity among the voters as the nation had almost agreed on the matter that there should be no role of army in politics. However, he criticised the leadership of mainstream political parties for not bringing discipline in their organisational structures that would often result in desertions of their parliamentarians to the other parties. He advised such parties to adopt a mechanism to ensure loyalty in their ranks and file since strong political parties were also needed to ensure continuity of democratic process.

Mr Baloch said the resolution of Balochistan Assembly and a letter written by the former KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak carried no weight as elections must not be delayed.

The delimitation of constituencies and changes in them were the prerogatives of the Election Commission of Pakistan that could continue with the process till the issuance of the polling scheme, he added.

The JI leader also addressed to the participants of an Iftar dinner hosted by Lalamusa chapter of the party.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2018