MUZAFFARGARH: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday criticised the economic policies of the government and accused it of using the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for victimising opposition parties.

Addressing a press conference in Jatoi tehsil of Muzaffargarh, he claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had come to power through a rigged election.

He said wrong decisions of the government had created a severe financial crisis for the country. The economic situation of the country was worsening day by day, he said and warned that if the government remained unsuccessful in taking appropriate actions for economic recovery, the country would have to face serious circumstances.

The JUI-F chief accused the government of victimising leaders of the opposition parties in the name of accountability. Raising questions over the ongoing accountability process in the country, he said only opposition leaders were being targeted by NAB while no action was being taken against those people in the government who were allegedly involved in corruption cases.

Says NAB, FIA being used to victimise opposition leaders in the name of ccountability

He said many projects initiated by the current government, including the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in Peshawar and the Billion Tree Tsunami project, had caused huge losses to the country, but no one from the government was being held accountable for the loss of public money.

He said the PTI government launched the BRT project six years ago, but it was still under construction. Due to the delay in completion of the BRT project, its cost had jumped from Rs30 billion to Rs130bn, he added.

Apparently in reference to the decision of the Lahore High Court’s administrative committee of dismissing former judge Arshad Malik from service, he said the judiciary should revisit judgements announced by the judge.

The Maulana called for fresh general elections in the country, saying that if fresh elections were not held immediately the country could face serious consequences.

He urged the opposition parties to organise a multi-party conference for discussing all crises being faced by the country.

He said July 5 would always be remembered as a day when an elected government was toppled by a military dictator. He said the future of Pakistan was linked with democracy and there was no place for dictatorship or a presidential system in the country.

On his arrival in Jatoi tehsil, the JUI-F chief was welcomed by a large number of his party members.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2020