KP Spox says PTI does not need Fazlur Rehman’s support. JUI-F leader ‘changes stand for personal gain’: PTI. PTI and JUI-F had joined hands on the parliamentary front.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday slammed JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for “legitimising” the ruling party following a major shift in its stance towards the coalition government amid continued cooperation with the former ruling party in parliament.
“We have never needed (Maulana Fazl’s) support in the past or present,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government spokesman, lawyer Mohammed Ali Saif, told Geo News channel Naya Pakistan.
The PTI leader’s statement came as JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl appeared to soften his rhetoric against the PML-N-led coalition, which he accused of coming to power in a “rigged” February 8 general election.
Speaking in the National Assembly on Wednesday, the JUI-F leader referred to the alleged rigging of election results and said whether the present Parliament was a product of ‘Form 45’ or ‘Form 47’, it should have accepted and utilised it to address all the problems of the country.
Fazl also called on both the government and the opposition to confront the threat of terrorism as parliament is the highest authority.
The religious parties and the PTI had reached an agreement in August to cooperate in the National Assembly and the Senate.
The two parties, traditionally arch rivals, have held multiple rounds of talks since the February 8 election due to shared concerns about alleged manipulation of the election results and voting irregularities.
The current government then stepped up efforts to persuade disgruntled allies, with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif separately meeting with him to try to ease his concerns.
Before the 2024 general election, Fazl was one of the PML-N and PPP’s closest allies and led the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the multi-party opposition alliance that ousted former prime minister Imran Khan in 2022 through a no-confidence motion.
Speaking on the programme today, Lawyer Saif said the JUI-F leader has always chosen sides which benefited him and said clerical politics is “over” in KP province where the PTI-led government is in power.
“Even if he (Fazl) gets the support of all opposition lawmakers, he does not have enough seats to convene the (KP) Assembly,” the KP spokesman said, adding that the politician was aiming for the KP governor’s post and two senate seats.
He further said Maulana Fazl had changed his stance against the current government for “personal gains”, claiming that the current government always benefits his family. “His brother will become a senator and another relative will become a governor,” he alleged, referring to reports that he had been offered a top job by the coalition government in return for supporting the current government.
“We supported the ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) and Maulana’s opposition to the February 8 elections,” he said, adding, “But now he has accepted the system.”
