LARKANA: The provincial leadership of the Muttahida Majlis-iAmal (MMA) on Tuesday announced that it would keep the option of seat adjustment with any party open but field its candidates on all national and provincial assembly seats in Sindh in the coming general election.

The announcement was made by MMA Sindh president Maulana Rashid Soomro at a press conference at the Larkana Press Club along with several other leaders of the alliance.

Maulana Soomro said that the MMA would provide an alternative leadership to the people of Sindh against the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

While keeping aside the religious lines, the MMA had decided to challenge the rival parties in political way, he said, adding that the alliance had been revived to defeat those forces which were out to impose `secularism and liberalism` on this country.

`Middle East is burning but someone [country] has time to bombard Yemen,` he remarked, and said that sectarianism would not be allowed to flourish in the country.

He stressed implementation of the Council of Islamic Ideology`s edicts (CII).

When asked what would be thestatus of his Jamiat Ulema-i-IslamFazl (JUI-F) which is part of the MMA and at the same time the Larkana Awami Ittehad (LAI)-in the coming election, Maulana Soomro replied: `things will take shape once MMA`s reorganised structure in Sindh is completed`.

In the same breath, he said the option of seat adjustment at local level was open. `You will see positive politics,` he added.

The MMA leader pointed out that in the 2013 election, the aggregate votes polled by opposition parties were far more than those of the PPP.

Maulana Rashid Soomro`s name was finalised with consensus at a recent LAI meeting as the candidate from NA-200 against the probable candidate, Bilawal BhuttoZardari, the PPP chairman.

Allama Riaz Hussaini said that Shias had sustained huge losses [in acts of terrorism in the country] as their Imambargahs were targeted.

But in the larger interest of the Ummah, all religious parties had decided to revive the MMA. `We all are one and united on the single platform,` he said.

The MMA leaders severely criticised the Sindh government for its flawed policies, observing that farmers had been pushed into the stone age; they were denied reasonable and notified procurement prices of their produce, cotton, sugarcane,wheatandpaddy.

They noted that people of Sindhwere compelled to drink highly contaminated water, which was a source of highest prevalence of Hepatitis-B in the province.

`We welcome establishment of the satellite units of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) in different parts of Sindh butit should also be keptin mind that a bigger chunk of population in the province was suffering from Hepatitis-B.

Earlier, the Sindh MMA leadership went into session at a local hotel and approved the names of Ashique Dhamrah, Hafiz Roshan Ali Panhwar and Jawed Ali Tagar as the president, general secretary and spokesman of the alliance`s Larkana district chapter, respectively.

SUKKUR: Maulana Rashid Soomro also addressed a press conference at the office of Jamaat-iIslami`s Jacobabad chapter.

He said MMA would play a pivotal role in preventing religious violence and sectarianism in the country amid the military onslaughts in the neighbouring region. He said the United States, Russia, Britain and India were the key players in these onslaughts.

He recalled that sectarian violence had been triggered in the recent past in Shikarpur, Larkana and Jacobabad districts under a conspiracy which was aimed at spreading sectarian hatred across the country. To foil such conspiracies and prevent recurrence of suchterrorist attacks, leaders of different schools of thought had revived the MMA.

`We will play deterrent to such conspiracies at the village, town, city and taluka levels to protect Sindh from bloodshed on sectarian grounds and at the same time we will play out due role in resolving people`s issues at grass-roots level.

The MMA Sindh chief alleged that those who ruled over Sindh for almost a decade ruthlessly looted the province`s resources and revenues. They destroyed the education, health and other sectors trough corruption and flawed policies, he added.

The maulana said that the Sindh government was responsible for the countless deaths in Thar and other parts of the province due to malnutrition, waterborne diseases, measles and certain other health problems as it failed to ensure proper health and relevant facilities in towns and villages.

`Those repeatedly pledging Roti, kapra aur makan over decades only rendered people of Sindh jobless, shelter-less and landless,` he remarked,andnotedthattheyinnicted heavy losses on growers by denying reasonable ratesfortheirproduce.

The MMA provincial leadership also finalised the names of JUI-F Jacobabad president Dr A.G.

Ansari as MMA`s district chief and Haji Deedar Ali Lashari of JI the district general secretary.