LAHORE: Former president Arif Alvi met Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Thursday, two days prior to planned and much-trumpeted Lahore public meeting by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in a bid to enlist latter’s numerical support for it.

A Jamaat insider, however, said neither the former president directly asked for it, nor the Jamaat promised. However, both sides know the larger political picture and the critical importance of public meeting for the PTI and its chief.

Both sides claimed to have spent much time on the government’s proposed constitutional package and the current political situation in the meeting at Mansoora and later spoke to the media waiting outside where Hafiz Naeemur Rehman firmly rejected the proposed amendment and urged all opposition parties to get united and do the same.

He criticised the government’s handling of the process, stating that this is not the appropriate time for such amendments, and that the government lacks the public mandate to make decisions of such gravity.

He said if a judicial commission were to investigate election rigging, more than half of the sitting members of the assembly would likely to lose their seats. He said the government was making attempts to create a new constitutional crisis by using questionable tactics related to the age and number of Supreme Court judges, particularly as a new chief justice is about to take office.

Rehman emphasised that the JI and PTI have maintained contact on matters of mutual interest and would continue to collaborate in the future.

He expressed concern over the current political climate, where democratic freedoms are being curtailed, and reiterated that every political party has the right to hold peaceful gatherings.

Rehman stressed that the country’s improvement is linked to respecting the Constitution.

He underscored that all institutions must operate within the boundaries set by the Constitution, as this is the only path to restoring the nation’s progress.

Dr Alvi voiced his disapproval of the government’s actions, accusing it of attempting to “bury the Constitution” under the guise of amendments, which, he asserted, were unacceptable.

He praised the JI’s principled stance on the issue, noting that the PTI shares this view.

Dr Alvi said this is not the time to inflict further damage on the Constitution, especially given the law and order situation in KP and Balochistan and country’s precarious economic condition.

He asked the Jamaat to play its due role in the current political crisis as it did in Bangladesh recently.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2024