PESHAWAR, OCT 10 (AP): The government of a troubled Pakistani province was dissolved Wednesday amid differences between rival Islamist groups that could strengthen President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's hold on power.
Gov. Ali Mohammed Jan Aurakzai dissolved the Provincial Assembly of North West Frontier Province and will appoint a caretaker government chief later Wednesday, officials said.
The province has been governed since 2002 by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, an alliance of religious parties opposed to Musharraf's close alliance with the United States.
The MMA initiated moves to dissolve the assembly earlier this month in order to undermine the legitimacy of Pakistan's Oct. 6 presidential election.
The botched dissolution of the assembly has exposed rifts between the country's two main Islamist groups and fanned speculation that one of them will break away and join a pro-Musharraf federal government after parliamentary elections due by January.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Fazal-ur Rahman is tipped as a possible partner for the ruling PML-Q party and the more liberal Pakistan People's Party of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, who plans to return from exile on Oct. 18.
Qazi Hussain Ahmad, leader of the rival Jamaat-e-Islami, Wednesday urged the alliance to hold together and fight the election from a common platform.
Despite their strong anti-US rhetoric, the religious parties have supported Musharraf.
Most notably, the MMA voted for a constitutional amendment in 2003 that legalised aspects of Musharraf's 1999 coup and allowed him to continue as army chief as well as president.
Pakistani provincial govt dissolved
FE Team | Published: October 11, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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