DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday claimed that Chaudhry Shujaat Husain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had endorsed his point of view that new elections were necessary for the country’s future.

Talking to the media on Thursday, he said that “illegitimate government” of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf was still enjoying the “backing of the establishment”. He said a free and fair election was the only solution to steer the country out of political and economic crises.

“The Chaudhry brothers have fully supported our demand for fresh elections,” the Maulana said, adding that opposition parties, particularly the JUI-F, gave a strong message to the “illegitimate government” through the Azadi march that they could lock down the entire country.

He said that after Plan A and Plan B his party would launch a countrywide movement against the government at the district level, adding that workers were already being mobilised for the purpose.

The JUI-F leader said that the country’s economy was on the verge of collapse because of wrong policies of the government, claiming that production of wheat and rice had witnessed a decline of 40 per cent.

Responding to a question, Maulana Fazl said that Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza should announce a judgement in the foreign funding case against the PTI before his retirement.

He criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan for calling the Azadi march a “political circus”, alleging that the premier had committed blasphemy by declaring a religious congregation a circus.

Meanwhile, the provincial executive council of the JUI-F met in Peshawar on Thursday and discussed the strategy for launching protests at the district level in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The party will hold a protest rally in Dera Ismail Khan on Nov 24 and extend the protests to other districts. Leaders of other opposition parties will also address these protest rallies. It was also decided that a multi-party conference would be convened in Peshawar to discuss the future line of action.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2019