An Assessment of the Emergence of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, in the 2002 General Elections

Abstract

Though Pakistani politics is heavily influenced by religion assumed to be the reason d'etat of the creation of Pakistan, prior to 2002, religious, political parties had never achieved effective electoral results. The October 2002 elections for the National and Provincial Assemblies were a turning point for the religious, political parties in the history of Pakistan. It was the first time that a conglomeration of six religious, political parties, the Jamaat-i-Islami, the Jamiat-i-Ulema-iPakistan (JUP-N), Jamiat-i-Ahle Hadith (JAH-S), the Jamiat-Ulema-iIslam (JUI-F), Jamiat-Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-S), and the Tehrik-i-Jaferia Pakistan (TJP) swept the polls under the umbrella of the Muttahida Majlise-Amal (MMA) (United Council for Action) due to the active support of the Army and America. The alliance emerged as the third-largest political force in the country, with 45 out of the 272 National Assembly general seats. Moreover, the MMA got an overwhelming mandate in the KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) and Baluchistan, allowing it to form a government in the KP and became a coalition partner in Baluchistan. The present study is an attempt to answer the question, "what were the causative factors of MMA's emergence and whether it achieved what it promised during the election campaign?".