LAHORE: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who headed the previous PDM ruling coalition, on Thursday claimed that general elections would have been held by now if the Peoples Party had not gone back on its words.

Talking to journalists here, the JUI-F chief explained that all component parties of the PDM — Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Balochistan National Party-Mengal, and others — had agreed to hold elections early last year.

But the PPP went back on its promise and then all parties decided to bring the no-confidence motion against the-then prime minister Imran Khan.

It may be mentioned that while PPP was an important partner of the government headed by Shehbaz Sharif, it was not a component of the PDM.

JUI-F chief claims all PDM parties had agreed to hold elections early last year

Maulana Fazl said general elections could be held by the end of February next year, but it is almost impossible to run the election campaign in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas given the growing violent incidents in the region.

However, he emphasised, elections are inevitable in the current circumstances.

Berating the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and its chief, the JUI-F emir said that those who had brought Imran Khan to power now concede that they were on an agenda. The time proved that their agenda was to weaken the country economically, he pointed out.

Commenting on the interim set-up, Maulana Fazl said there was no concept of caretakers in a democracy.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2023