• JUI-F chief questions US president’s peace credentials
• Mushahid says Trump ‘unleashed an illegal war’

ISLAMABAD: Raising concerns over the government’s decision to recommend US President Donald Trump for Nobel Peace Prize, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday demanded the decision be withdrawn, Dawn.com reported.

The demand came a day after the government said it has decided to formally recommend President Donald J. Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition of his decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership during the recent India-Pakistan crisis.

“President Trump’s claim of peace has proven to be false, the proposal for the Nobel Prize should be withdrawn,” the JUI-F chief told workers at a party meeting in Murree, according to the party’s statement.

He said that Trump’s recent meeting and lunch with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir “pleased Pakistani rulers so much” that they recommended nominating the US president for the Nobel prize.

“With the blood of Afghans and Palestinians on America’s hands, how can he claim to be a proponent of peace?” the JUI-F chief asked.

He said President Trump won the presidential election with the slogan of peace but was “proven false in his claim”.

The JUI-F chief further said US president has supported the Israeli attacks on Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Iran. So how can this be a sign of peace?

He claimed that when Pakistan destroyed India’s defense force, Trump intervened and said, “I have declared a ceasefire.”

He said his party is in favour of friendship with the US but not of its slavery.

“National sovereignty, the right of the people to govern themselves, and economic freedom should be maintained in relations with America,” he asserted and pointed out that in the last three months, the US delegation had visited him thrice, after which he attended their diplomatic ceremony in Islamabad.

He was of the view that the attack on Iran is an attempt to stop China’s economic growth as Beijing is the largest importer of Iranian oil.

‘No longer a potential peacemaker’

Meanwhile, former senator Mushahid Hussain wrote on X: “Since Trump is no longer a potential peacemaker, but a leader who has willfully unleashed an illegal war, [the] Pakistan government must now review, rescind and revoke his Nobel nomination!”

He said Trump had been “trapped by Netanyahu and Israeli war lobby, committing [the] biggest blunder of his presidency”.

“Trump will now end up presiding over [the] decline of America!”

Mr Hussain, former chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence, had previously said that if the nomination “panders to Trump’s ego, so be it”.

PTI MNA Ali Muhammad Khan wrote “RECONSIDER” on his X account, highlighting the “US attack on Iran and continuous US support of Israeli killings in Gaza”.

In a separate post, the opposition PTI condemned the “unprovoked” US strikes and voiced “total support” for Iran’s sovereignty.

Former senator Afrasiab Khattak said, “The sycophancy adopted by [the] Pakistani ruling elite in nominating President Trump for Nobel Peace Prize is not part of normative conduct in international diplomacy.”

Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, has termed the move “unfortunate” and said it did not reflect the public’s views.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2025