PESHAWAR: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday said the party’s central leadership had directed provincial leaders and workers to make preparations for the next general elections.

“We [JUI-F] will field our candidates in the elections, which are to take place sooner or later. However, seat adjustment will be made wherever it’s necessary,” Mr Fazl told a presser at the Mufti Mehmood Markaz here.

He said all political parties, which were part of the ruling coalition PDM, were on good terms with each other and supported each other in by-polls.

The JUI-F chief said every party developed its political strategy keeping its own interests in view.

“Though the Pakistan Democratic Movement is not a political alliance, we [JUI-F] don’t rule out the possibility of seat adjustment with its members,” he said.

Mr Fazl said it was parliament and not any individual to decide about whether general elections should be delayed or not, while the Election Commission of Pakistan was to announce the election schedule.

Says parliament, not any individual, to decide about poll delay

He said Pakistan’s foreign policy should be Pakistan-centric and it should protect the interests of both Pakistan and friendly countries.

The JUI-F chief resented Indian aggression against neighbouring countries.

He said India’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir was the consequence of the “Modi-Imran nexus.”

“The United Nations resolutions on the Kashmir conflict are being ignored,” he said, adding that the party expressed solidarity with the people of India-occupied territory.

Mr Fazl appreciated Chinese proposals for investment in different sectors of the country and said after the execution of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, the friendship between the two countries had turned into a ‘financial friendship’.

The JUI-F chief alleged that former prime minister Imran Khan damaged the CPEC project. “Imran froze the CPEC project and ruined Chinese investment. Those opposed to the CPEC were the friends of the United States, while the project’s supporters were the US enemies,” he said.

Mr Fazl said restoring China’s trust in Pakistan’s policies was vital, so the federal government was taking steps for it.

He said the Chinese government and business people would be invited to put money in the country.

The JUI-F also said foreigners wouldn’t invest a single penny in the country if there was any chance of Imran’s return to power.

He rejected the West’s concerns about arrests over the May 9-10 riots and insisted that hundreds of people were taken into custody following attacks on the British and American houses of parliament.

Mr Fazl also said the government should, besides the May 9-10 riots, also initiate legal action over “mega corruption” in the Billion Tree Tsunami, Bus Rapid Transit, Malam Jabba lease and Sehat Card programme of the last PTI government.

He said it seemed as if the country’s image as an Islamic country had been changed with a secular one’s.

“We will make efforts to restore Pakistan’s Islamic image. They will be part of our election campaign,” he said.

The JUI-F chief appreciated China for trying to bring Saudi Arabia and Iran closer. He congratulated Tayyip Erdogan over re-election as the president of Turkiye.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2023