SUKKUR: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) general secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri has said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) wants to eliminate the role of establishment in politics.

He said there were apprehensions of rigging in the Senate election, and said that “the forces that had interfered in the 2018 general elections are now trying to do the same in the Senate election”.

Maulana Haideri was speaking to reporters after offering his condolences to JUI-F Jacobabad district president Dr A.G. Ansari on the death of his brother, Dr Abdul Kareem, on Tuesday.

He said PDM component parties were confident that their candidates would not enter into any foul play but the government side feared its candidate could ditch it in the Senate poll.

In reply to a question, the JUI-F leader claimed that PDM candidates had won their seats in the Kurram and Daska by-elections but results were changed.

He insisted that the country would grow economically stronger if the establishment stopped interfering in elections and its role in politics was eliminated.

He said the people selling their votes were actually selling their conscience and the trust reposed in them by the people of their constituencies.

In replying to a question, Maulana Haideri said the masses were facing problems due to fast increasing inflation in the country. They were not in a position to buy anything while there was no education, healthcare and other facilities available to them, he said.

The present government in its tenure failed to initiate any development schemes while CPEC, which was the plan for the uplift and prosperity of Pakistan, was also shelved, he claimed.

Speaking about the March 26 PDM march to Islamabad, he said the anti-people government would be sent packing soon.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2021