HYDERABAD: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl secretary general Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri has said that his party will hold a multiparty conference in Karachi on July 9 against possible changes to the 18th Constitutional Amendment and intended deduction of provinces’ share in the divisible pool of the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

Speaking at a press conference in Pathan Goth here on Friday evening, he said the ruling party at the centre had destroyed the economy. He observed that those who had pledged to generate 10 million jobs, build five million houses and get the country’s loans written off were now sacking employees. “Those who were calling others ‘thieves’ are themselves proved thieves”, he remarked.

The former senator deplored that those found involved in flour and sugar scandals had not been brought to book as yet, and wondered how the [federal] government would ensure justice.

He said that price hike had increased manifold but the new federal budget was being portrayed as ‘historic one’. “This is a budget that reflects zero GDP growth,” he pointed out, and said that it showed that the government had put everything in the economy in reverse gear.

Maulana Haideri also criticised the government for not raising salaries of government employees in spite of the fact that prices of common commodities had increased.

Maulana Haideri asks opposition to join hands to send govt packing, plans MPC on 9th

He noted that Sindh was not given Rs230 billion out of the NFC divisible pool while deductions were also made in Balochistan’s revenue and power liabilities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were not released.

The JUI-F leader alleged that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government “sold away” India-held Kashmir but his party was raising its voice for the cause. He further alleged that the ruling party accepted Kashmir being a part of India during [Prime Minister Imran Khan’s] visit to the United States “under an agreement”. He pointed out that the government of [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi got the legislation [about occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s status] passed after the very visit.

Insisting that “everything was done under an agreement”, he claimed that “rulers in Pakistan are part of this plan. That’s why there is a complete silence [on the part of Pakistan] at international forums,” he argued.

Commenting on the political position of PTI government, Maulana Haideri opined that the coalition had lost its majority in the parliament now when Akhtar Mengal’s party had parted ways with it.

He claimed that political situation in the country would have been quite different had the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) joined the ‘million march’ held by JUI-F. “Both these parties will have to give up expediencies,” he said, adding that it would be a crime if these parties “still kept waiting for their turn”. He also claimed that people were poised for a change and, therefore, the opposition must challenge the [PTI] government.

He warned that the government would not be allowed to play with the 18th Constitutional Amendment. “The entire government must be sent packing and fresh general elections be held,” he said rejecting the ‘minus one’ formula [to replace PM Imran Khan with some other person].

“Parliament is dissolved in democracies when the ruling party loses its numerical strength but nothing is happening here,” he pointed out.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2020