Daily Times

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday said that his party had decided to boycott the by-elections and will be holding protests in different cities from April 25.

“We decided not to recognise the results February 8 elections and reject them, because this parliament is less representative of the people and more representative of the establishment,” said the JUI-F in a video message. Major political parties including JUI-F, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have rejected the February 8 elections, alleging that the polls were rigged in the favour of the current government.

Fazl said that his party will have to take the nation into confidence, so that they can get united for their right to vote and secure their votes. He added that they are also contacting other parties in this regard.

“This is our narrative and we have decided to move forward with it. We will start this movement named Awami Assembly from April 25 from Balochistan’s Pishin,” said the politician.

Fazl said that the Awami Assembly will take place in Karachi on May 2 and on May 9 in Peshawar. After this, he added, the JUI-F will decide on a date for Lahore.

“The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has remained powerless and did not have the permission to compile a single result,” Fazl lamented, adding that interference was being done in the matters of the civil bureaucracy.

The senior politician said that for the first time, the high courts have also raised their voice that their matters are being interfered with and they are being threatened.

Fazl added that his party will also boycott the upcoming by-elections – set to take place on April 21 – on the national and provincial assembly seats that had been left vacant following the February 8 general elections. “We don’t trust the previous results of the elections. How can we expect fairness in the by-elections?” he added.