The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl's (JUI-F) 'solo flight' for Islamabad next month to dislodge Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is unlikely to achieve the desired result, as the two major opposition parties - PML-N and PPP - are yet to ensure their participation in the protest. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has already clarified his party's position about Maulana Fazlur Rehman's proposed 'march' to Islamabad, saying that PPP has never been part of 'dharna politics' and therefore it would not participate in the protest but would provide moral support.
The PML-N, according to its general secretary Ahsan Iqbal, has convened a meeting of party's central working committee on Sep 23 to discuss and decide whether to participate in the JUI-F protest. JUI-F spokesman Mufti Abrar told Business Recorder that the party leadership is in contact with all the opposition political parties including PML-N and PPP.
"We desire and expect all the opposition parties, particularly PML-N and PPP to be part of the protest," he said. He insisted that the decision to lockdown Islamabad was taken in the Rehbar Committee, a representative body of the joint opposition to chalk out anti-government strategy, adding that the exact date and further details of the proposed lockdown were not yet finalized.
"We fully understand the problems of PML-N and PPP leadership", he said while referring to the ongoing cases against the central leadership of the two parties and stated that JUI-F is hopeful that workers of the PML-N and PPP will join the JUI-F, if not the leadership, in its Oct lockdown protest in Islamabad.
He indicated that it would be a prolonged sit-in protest such as PTI and Tahir-ul-Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) staged against the previous PML-N government in Aug 2014. "The protest will continue till the target is achieved. It [protest] will only culminate once the 'dust' is settled," he asserted. "The JUI-F alone is capable to flood the streets of Islamabad and send the rulers back to their home", he added.
The JUI-F is mainly relying on students in its seminaries spread out in several parts of the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan. However its representation in parliament, NA (15) and Senate (4), was considerably reduced by PTI in the 2018 general elections. Thus JUI-F from the platform of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) - the alliance of religio-political parties - was able to elect 15 members to the current National Assembly and one was elected from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) however JI has refused to become part of the JUI-F Islamabad 'lockdown' plan.
The JUI-F sources said so far only two MMA factions, JUI-Noorani and Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith, have confirmed their participation in the protest. Like the PML-N and PPP, the Awami National Party (ANP) is also undecided about joining hands with Maulana Fazlur Rehman in full force. So far none of the opposition parties have directed their workers at provincial or district levels to get ready for next month's 'march' to the federal capital. JUI-F sources said the party has convened its worker convention on 17th Sep followed by central executive committee (CEC) meeting on 18th Sep in Islamabad to finalize its plan and announce a final date for the protest.