LANDI KOTAL: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has ruled out possibility of midterm elections and imposition of martial law in the country.

He visited Jamrud on Tuesday to offer condolence over the demise of a family member of MNA Haji Shahji Gul. “No midterm elections will be held or martial law imposed in the country due to the marches of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehrik on August 14,” he said on the occasion.

The JUI-F chief said that it had become a habit of Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri to criticise national institutions as they wanted to weaken democracy and pave the way for military takeover in the country.

He said that his party would try its best to foil all conspiracies against the democratically elected governments. He said that instead of asking for midterm elections, his party would demand re-election in those constituencies from where the PTI candidates would resign.

Mr Rehman ridiculed Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri for frequently changing their stances. He said that the politics of dharna (sit-in) was no more acceptable to the people of Pakistan.The JUI-F chief said that as a political worker he believed that army would not topple the democratically elected government. There was no fear of imposition of a martial law on or after August 14, he added.

Mr Rehman said that elections were not rigged only in four constituencies as claimed by PTI. He said that polls were rigged in the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where PTI emerged victorious. “We have been repeatedly saying that elections in most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa constituencies were rigged but the PTI chief and the provincial government paid no heed to our complaints,” he said.

The JUI-F chief said that PTI was out to derail democracy as it was trying to pit national institutions against each other by levelling allegations against former chief justice, Election Commission of Pakistan, media organisations and even army.

“JUI-F will be at the forefront to foil all such conspiracies against democracy and elected government,” he said.

Published in Dawn, Aug 13th, 2014