ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) have decided to work together and support each other in the upcoming general elections announced for February 8 by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
This was stated by JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman here on Tuesday after having a meeting with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif who called on him at his residence to condole the death of the JUI chief’s mother-in-law.
Speaking to the media following his meeting with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, Rehman said PML-N and JUI-F had jointly struggled in the past and both the parties will continue the alliance in the future, as well, adding that working relations with all the political parties will be maintained.
No party should be deprived of its right, bitterness should not be created in the electoral environment; we should not make the upcoming elections controversial as the country cannot afford it, he said.
He assailed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), saying “The PTI is not a political party, but was having the agenda to harm the country, playing with the fate of Kashmir, and was willing to accept Israel. Such a party has no right whatsoever to be branded as a political party.” “The threat of conspiracy and anarchy against the country still looms large, which has to be averted,” he added.
Rehman vowed not to adopt any “extremist” attitude towards the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). “It is well and good if we settle matters with the PPP. However, if it does not happen, we will not create any unpleasant situation of uncertainty during the electoral campaign.”
Reacting to PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s statement about the “aged politicians”, Rehman said, “By talking about the old politicians, Bilawal has given the message first to his own father, Asif Ali Zardari.”
“There is a difference between the thinking of an elderly person and a ‘child’. This difference is visible in the statements of Bilawal,” the JUI-F chief said referring to Bilawal’s statement that youth should be given a chance to lead the country instead of the elderly people.
Fazal called for promoting reconciliation and harmony in order to avoid politics of confrontation during the election campaign. He made it clear that his party does not want to make the upcoming elections “controversial” by any means.
“The candidates in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cannot run the electoral campaign. I had conveyed my message to the state institutions, and they will ensure law and order,” the JUI-F chief said.
The JUI chief; however, refused to comment on the recent interview of Khawar Manika.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023