இஸ்லாமிய கட்சிகள் பாகிஸ்தானில் மாபெரும் தோல்வி

இஸ்லாமிய கட்சிகள் கூட்டணி அமைத்து பாகிஸ்தான் தேர்தலில் நின்றன. (முத்தாஹிதா மஜ்லிஸ் ஈ அமால்) .

இந்த தேர்தல் முன்னைப்போல அதிகமாக தேர்தல் தில்லுமுல்லுகள் இல்லாமல் நடந்ததால், இந்த கட்சிகள் படு தோல்வி அடைந்தன.


Islamists face heavy losses in Pak vote: TV
(AFP)
19 February 2008

PESHAWAR - Pakistan’s main alliance of Islamist parties faced heavy losses on Tuesday, early election results showed, five years after winning control of a key province bordering Afghanistan.


The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance was the third-largest grouping in the previous national parliament with 50 seats.

But they had won just two seats out of 158 counted in unofficial early results announced by state run television Tuesday, the day after crucial parliamentary elections across Pakistan.

Formed in 2002, the alliance won control of the volatile North West Frontier Province on the back of fierce anti-US sentiment after US-led troops overthrew the hardline Taleban regime in neighbouring Afghanistan in late 2001.

Their success in 2002 elections had raised international fears about a growing influence of hardline Islam in politics in nuclear-armed Pakistan.

Residents in the provincial capital Peshawar welcomed the setback for the mullahs on Tuesday with gunfire and street celebrations.

In one constituency, up to 4,000 people gathered early to celebrate the victory of Arbab Alamgir Khan, from the party of Benazir Bhutto who was slain in a gun and suicide attack in December, an AFP reporter witnessed.

They fired volleys of celebratory gunfire into the air and drove around in open trucks shouting, “Long live Bhutto!”

“These people did nothing for us during their five-year tenure and just strengthened the hands of Islamists and those supporting militancy,” said Raees Zaidi, who runs a property business.

“People believe that there should be moderate and progressive parties to lead them in a right direction and steer the province out of the turmoil caused by the MMA.”

Ifran Jan, an auto-rickshaw mechanic, called the mullahs ”religious fanatics” and said a vote for them would be wasted.

“These mullahs made our lives miserable,” said Jan, his hands stained with engine oil.

“They showed us dreams of a prosperous NWFP but left us at the mercy of militants. This situation was simply unacceptable.”

A senior government official said the results showed “a clear verdict by the people against those who use religion as a tool to gain political clout.”

According to the unofficial results, alliance leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman, a firebrand pro-Taleban cleric, was defeated in his home town of Dera Ismail Khan, the constituency he previously held.

The cleric, opposition leader in the previous provincial assembly, won another seat in neighbouring Bannu district, according to state television.

Under national election laws, a candidate can contest a number of seats but may only hold one.

The alliance split before the elections after one major party, Jamaat-e-Islami, announced a boycott, leaving only Rehman’s Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (JUIF) to take part.

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf was viewed by the United States as its key ally in the fight against Al Qaeda and Taleban militants based in Pakistan’s tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.

Musharraf’s parliamentary allies were also facing electoral defeat, according to early unofficial results.