JUD's MML party not to contest October 14 by-polls

After its poor performance in the July 25 polls, Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jammat-ud-Dawah (JuD) will not contest in the October 14 by-polls and instead prepare for the next election to the local bodies, said a media report Friday.

The Milli Muslim League (MML), the political face of the JuD, failed to win even a single national or provincial assembly seat in the general elections. Over 280 MML candidates polled just over 70,000 votes.

"The MML has decided to not take part in the by-elections and would instead prepare for the next local bodies elections, which is a much bigger task and the party would require thousands of candidates," MML president Saifullah Khalid told the Dawn newspaper.

Khalid said that the MML will now focus on its registration with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

"The party feels that the decision on its registration -- pending with the Islamabad High Court will be coming shortly. The last hearing generated some hope for the MML when the ECP faced tough time. The ECP had based its denial of registration to the MML only on a letter of the interior ministry," he said.

MML was launched in August 2017.

The interior ministry had opposed enlisting of the MML as a political party arguing it's an offshoot of the JuD which is banned under a UN resolution.

The JuD formed MML at the time when Saeed was detained in Lahore. Saeed and his four aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - were placed under house arrest in Lahore on January 30 under anti- terrorism act.

The JuD was declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. The JuD chief also carries a USD 10 million American bounty on his head for his role in terror activities.

Khalid said that now it is the ECP that has to decide on the registration of the MML.

"MML now feels that the case is concluding and the ECP itself has to decide on the registration instead of passing the buck to other ministries," Khalid said.