Daily Times

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Saturday warned that his party will lock down the federal capital if the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government did not step down, a private TV channel reported.

“We demand that fresh elections should be held in the country,” the JUI-F chief told reporters after a meeting of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an alliance of religious parties.

Fazl, who is also the president of the MMA, said all opposition parties are on the same page on holding fresh elections. He said the country is stuck in economic and political crises for the last eight months. “The country is being run by a few selected technocrats … the elected minister [Asad Umar] failed to present the annual budget,” he maintained. “Now an International Monetary Fund (IMF) budget will be presented instead of that of the government,” he added.

The JUI-F leader claimed that people have lost billions of rupees in the stock market during the last eight months because of the government’s poor economic policies. He also demanded an inquiry into the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in Peshawar. “The project which was estimated to cost Rs 30 billion has now touched Rs 100 billion,” he noted. “The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been rounding up politicians belonging to the opposition parties, while the minister and officials responsible for the BRT fiasco are roaming free,” he lamented.

Fazl pointed out that the PTI does not have its own ministers and has instead chosen people who were part of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government. “The current government lacks the ability to pull the country out of the prevailing crises,” he added.

The JUI-F chief noted that the presidential form of government is a symbol of dictatorship and such measures should be avoided.