Calling the government and the parliament puppets, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday said that the party would convene its meeting after Eidul Fitr to decide on launching an anti-government movement.
Talking to reporters in Islamabad, he said a policy-making meeting would decide the JUI-F’s alliance with the PTI.
He further said the present government was not elected. “The state is in danger,” he said, adding, “When we in the opposition are concerned about the country’s fragile situation, why is not the government?”
Fazl said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif invited political leaders to Iftar parties, but not to discuss the country’s situation.
“Employees are being fired from PWD, Postal Services and other departments because they are incompetent,” the JUI-F chief said, adding, “If they are incompetent, how could you call yourself competent?”
He told newsmen that relations between the JUI-F and the PTI were no longer as bitter as they used to be in the past. “Even if PTI leaders make statements against the JUI-F, this will not dent the likely alliance between the two parties.”
However, Fazl said, if any PTI leader made a statement against him, the party leadership should take notice of it.
He added that the rulers begged him to join the government. “Nawaz Sharif can play a vital role in the present situation,” the JUI-F chief said, adding, “If Nawaz thinks that good governance in one province is sufficient, then why about the rest of the country.”
He recalled that when Donald Trump became the US president, there was jubilation in the opposition camp. “But after the government handed over a militant to the USA, the opposition was in a state of gloom while the government was ecstatic.”
Fazl warned that if the government continued to make unilateral decisions, the stronger the reaction would be from the political parties.
He lamented that the establishment called the shots in the country. “The establishment says that politicians are incapable of running the country. I want to tell them that they should better go to their barracks and let the civilians take over.”
The country, he went on to say, did not belong to the establishment alone, but to the entire nation.
The JUI-F chief wondered that if there could be talks with India and Iran, then why not with Afghanistan. “I can think to play my role in defusing tensions with Afghanistan if asked by the establishment.”
“Elections were not merely rigged. Mandates were stolen from the political parties. And we are a witness to that,” he added.
He made it clear he did not believe in the ‘minus one formula’. “Those at the helm of affairs do not like politicians to become extremely popular,” he remarked.
