Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the establishment has no ideology; their only ideology is authority, ensuring that control remained in their hands, which he had objections to and would continue to have. Speaking at a press conference in Karachi, he said that the PTI did not involve them in discussions regarding negotiations with the government. PTI did not take them into confidence, and he has no knowledge of what they are saying or doing. He further stated that the duration of a government has nothing to do with the transparency of elections. Even authoritarian governments complete their terms, sometimes ruling for 10 years, and this has no connection to election transparency. He mentioned that in the recent election for constituency 45 in Balochistan, the winning candidate did not win a single constituency. In Form 45, some places had one, two, five, and even 20 votes; these are the votes they claim. How can we trust the Chief Election Commissioner when such discrepancies exist? Maulana Fazlur Rehman added that the establishment still claimed that it would make the decisions and form the results. What is the role of the people if they say, “I voted for this one, and I voted for that one”? This means they are mocking democracy. The JUI-F chief said that when the establishment mocked the democracy and the constitution, should the people not mock them? Should they not criticize them? They get upset with criticism and then act this way. “Their stance is: the power will be with us, the control will be with us. They have no ideology; their only ideology is authority, whether it’s legitimate or not, and they don’t care. We object to this and will continue to do so. We remain firm in our stance, as we were in 2018, and we will remain so in 2024. We are not ready for any negotiations or reconciliation with them,” said the JUI-F chief. He also expressed dissatisfaction with politicians who compromise on democracy and the constitution and hand over the entire system to others just to maintain their credibility. This is not a legitimate position; the control remained with them, and they gave the credibility to them just to sit in parliament to gain legitimacy among the people. This change is of no significance in the JUI-F’s view. Maulana Fazlur Rehman also raised why the establishment or the rulers had a desire to interfere with madrassas (religious schools). Why, at all costs, did they want to turn the religious community into their opponents? Madrassas would not accept any interference in their educational system.