By IANS
Islamabad : Two key partners of the opposition Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), six-party religious alliance of Pakistan, have sought separate symbols for the Jan 8 elections, an indication that the grouping has virtually come apart.
The Election Commission said Tuesday that some 48 political parties, including MMA constituents Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), have applied for separate election symbols.
The Election Commission asked them to appear before it Sunday when the symbols would be allotted.
“In view of the fact that the MMA is a coalition, the Election Commission has decided to hear representatives of its components before allocating symbols,” Dawn quoted a commission official as saying Wednesday.
Besides the JI and the JUI-F, the MMA comprises the Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadees (MJAH), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Sami-ul-Haq group), Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP) and Islami Tehrik Pakistan (ITP).
The JI, led by MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, has sought the umbrella symbol while the JUI-F of alliance secretary general Maulana Fazlur Rehman has asked for the book symbol.
The book was the MMA’s original symbol.
The Election Commission, at its meeting here Tuesday presided over by its chief, Justice (retd) Qazi Mohammad Farooq, decided to issue notices to the presidents and secretary generals of all the MMA constituents to appear before it for a hearing on the allotment of symbols.
According to an official announcement, all those political parties that meet the requirements of the Political Parties Order of 2002 would be allotted election symbols after Sunday’s meeting at the Election Commission office.
The order mandates that all candidates should be graduates.