Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) supremo Maulana Fazlur Rehman has hinted at forming an electoral alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for the forthcoming general elections – scheduled for February 8.
Talking to journalists in DI Khan on Tuesday, he said the country had witnessed development and prosperity during the PML-N’s tenure. Fazl added that his religio-political party is ready to work with the Nawaz Sharif-led party to serve the country. The JUI-F chief – who was also head of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the multi-party alliance which led the previous government – said that it would not be the first time for both parties to jointly contest elections. All political parties, he said, had always respected each other’s mandate except for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) whose mandate was rejected by the entire nation.
Maulana Fazl has once again cast doubts over the staging of the most sought-after polls, saying that it would be a big challenge for the election organising authorities if they fail to establish polling stations due to cold weather. Low turnout of voters after such failures would open doors to election rigging, he added. He also slammed PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan, whose government was removed via a no-confidence motion in April 2022, for shaking the economic, political and diplomatic foundations of the country. Fazl further said that Pakistan had even lost confidence in its global allies during the PTI government, whereas, the country’s GDP turned negative. He also blamed the previous government for giving control of the country’s major financial institutions including the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – the Washinton-based lender. The JUI-F chief went on to say he would not back to fighting against the state institutions, adding that strained ties between institutions would lead the country to more crises instead of putting it on a development path.