ISLAMABAD: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), is still looking to unseat the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

But in a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday, the veteran politician from D.I. Khan agreed to defer a proposed vote of no-confidence which his party is looking to move in the provincial assembly.

Sources privy to the meeting told Dawn that the JUI-F chief insisted that if the ruling party at the centre endorsed the plan, the PTI government could be unseated with the support of the opposition parties in the KP assembly.

The decision to not proceed with a vote of no-confidence, a ruling party source said, was taken because the PM did not want to aggravate any further the situation arising out of PTI agitation.

PML-N does not want to antagonise PTI amid prevailing standoff

At the meeting, the JUI-F chief was accompanied by Housing and Works Minister Akram Khan Durrani; Leader of the Opposition in KP Assembly Maulana Lutfur Rahman and KP JUI-F President Senator Gul Naseeb Khan. KP Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique also attended the huddle.

A communiqué released after the meeting merely stated that “matters relating to (the) national and political situation came under discussion”.

As polarisation between the PML-N and PTI increases day-by-day, with the protesting party insistent on securing the PM’s resignation, the JUI-F leadership believed that the time was ripe for ‘like-minded parties’ to join hands against the PTI government in KP.

In a house of 124 members, the JUI-F is the second largest party with 16 MPAs as compared to the PTI’s 46. The PML-N has 14 MPAs, followed by eight of the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) and five from the Awami National Party (ANP). The PTI’s allies on the treasury benches include eight Jamaat-i-Islami MPAs and four of Awami Jamhoori Ittehad. The KP assembly also has 10 independent MPAs.

The JUI-F leaders’ argument is that with the help of independents and PTI dissidents the opposition has a good chance to upstage the PTI in the province. In fact, Fazlur Rehman had expressed the desire to form a coalition government in KP soon after the 2013 general elections, but Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif refused to entertain the option.

After maintaining that the PML-N would respect the mandate of majority parties in the provinces, the PM probably feels that it would not be fitting to change their stance at a time when the two parties were at loggerheads.

Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, the JUI-F chief said his party had decided not to pursue a no-confidence motion against the KP government, on the advice of the PM.

“After PTI announced its decision to resign from the assemblies, we were genuinely concerned that the KP chief minister, who can constitutionally dissolve the provincial assembly at any time, may succumb to pressure from within his party. Therefore, as a precautionary measure, we submitted the motion,” he said. Once a resolution regarding a no-confidence motion is submitted, constitutionally, the CM cannot dissolve the assembly.

A JUI-F source said both sides had agreed to give the PTI a tough time in KP and the option of a no-confidence motion might be explored later.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2014