The leader of the JUI-F, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, called on PML-N president Nawaz Sharif to join his coalition partner on the opposition benches rather than establishing the government on Wednesday, rejecting the “rigged” outcomes of the 12th general elections, which were held on February 8.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) states that JUI-F is a part of Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Pakistan, which only secured four seats in the National Assembly during the election.
Out of the 266 National Assembly members up for grabs, independents, who were primarily supported by their opponent PTI, gained the largest share with PML-N winning 75 seats and PPP winning 54.
PDM leaders, namely former president Asif Zardari, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, and leaders of the PML-Q and MQM-P, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Khalid Maqbool Siddique, declared their ambitions to create the next government in a news conference on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, neither Fazl nor any other JUI-F leaders showed up for yesterday’s news conference. Fazl was the PDM chief under the previous government.
Fazl stated that the voting results demonstrated that bribes were accepted from both the unsuccessful and victorious candidates during a press conference held in Islamabad today.
In return for cash, “some even received entire assemblies,” he claimed. “Therefore, I extend an invitation to Nawaz and the PML-N to accompany us and join in the opposition.”
According to Fazl, the poll-rigging in 2024 even shattered the previous record set during the purported election-rigging in 2018. He disagreed with the Pakistani Election Commission’s declaration that the polls were “free and fair.”
According to JUI-F, democracy is losing ground and the Parliament is becoming irrelevant. Decisions appear to be made locally rather than by the Parliament these days,” he remarked.
The head of JUI-F stated that while his party would fulfill its parliamentary duties, it would only reluctantly join the assembly.
He declared that “without the intervention from the establishment,” the JUI-F sought a National Assembly that was genuinely representative of the people.
The JUI-F was defeated through the manipulation of polls by an anti-Islamic plot. It is our fault that we did everything we could to repair the rift between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which the US finds unacceptable.
“We should have stood up against Israel’s actions in Gaza and backed Hamas,” Fazl continued.
He emphasized that the JUI-F was an intellectual organization that would not waver from its positions.
According to our heritage and sacrifices, our workers have no choice but to launch a movement, Fazl stated. “The army’s May 9 narrative has been buried if the establishment thinks the elections were free and fair.”
He claimed that the ECP’s involvement “has been dubious from day one” and that the election monitor turned down petitions submitted by JUI-F candidates.
“We will meet with the local general council of the JUI-F in Islamabad on February 22, in Balochistan on February 25, in KP on February 27, and in Karachi and Lahore on March 3 and March 5,” Fazl continued.
We fight their ideas, not their bodies, he stated in answer to a query on a potential alliance with the PTI. We’re hoping this problem can be fixed.
In response to another question, Fazl said that the JUI-F did not submit to the PML-N or the PPP. He went on, “We are not coalition partners of the government.”
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS
