Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday urged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to postpone their protests until after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) scheduled for October 15-16.
PTI’s founding chairman Imran Khan had announced a series of protests across the country in support of the judiciary in the first week of October.
Under his plan, PTI held protests in various cities of Punjab on Wednesday, October 2. The party is now scheduled to protest at D-Chowk (Islamabad) on October 4, and at Minar-e-Pakistan on October 5.
Addressing the media at his Islamabad residence, the JUI-F chief said Pakistan is hosting the SCO summit which will be attended by foreign dignitaries.
“Our stance is that we should welcome our foreign guests with open hearts and during that period, we should put our political differences aside and send a message of national harmony,” he said.
Maulana Fazl, who was recently re-elected as his party’s chief, said the incumbent parliament had no right to enact a Constitutional Amendment.
When asked if he would support the government in the Constitutional amendment, Fazl said he would thoroughly deliberate upon the contents of the draft before deciding.
He reiterated that the JUI-F, along with PPP and PTI, was working on its own draft of constitutional amendments, and efforts were being made to bring these changes through consensus.
The JUI-F chief also raised concerns about the Middle East, urging Arab countries to recognise the broader ambitions of Israel, which he claimed sought to escalate conflicts across the region.
He emphasised that this was no longer just a Palestinian issue, urging Arab nations to increase cooperation and be vigilant.
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