KARACHI: Pakistan Democratic Movement chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday rejected the proposed election reforms by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government and reiterated that the opposition alliance only wanted transparent and impartial elections in the country.

The chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam also said that an emergency meeting of the PDM had been called to plan the upcoming countrywide agitation against the government.

Speaking at a press conference at the residence of the chief of Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP) Awais Noorani here on Sunday evening, Maulana Fazl said that two proposed laws on domestic violence and evacuee property were in contravention to the Constitution.

“We are in favour of bringing an end to domestic violence but the proposed law will destroy the traditional family values, as some clauses of the bill are in direct contravention to Quran and Sunnah,” he said.

‘Proposed law against domestic violence will destroy our family system’

He made it clear that his party would not allow any legislation aimed at making Pakistan a secular state.

He said that a committee of senior clerics was reviewing the two bills and after their perusal a multiparty conference would be convened to plan countrywide protests. “We will take to streets with full force to save our family system,” he said.

International isolation claimed

Maulana Fazl claimed that Pakistan was facing isolation internationally because of the incompetence of the rulers.

He said the gravity of the situation could be gauged from the fact that the country despite being a major stakeholder in the issue of Afghanistan was not even invited to the recent meeting of the UN Security Council held to discuss the crisis in the neighbouring country.

He said that US President Joe Biden was not willing to talk to the prime minister and Washington had publicly denied Imran Khan’s claim about having asked for bases in Pakistan following withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

He said that even China was not ready to trust on the current administration that comprised inexperienced persons.

He stressed the need for a political solution to the Afghanistan problem and praised the leadership of Afghan Taliban for favouring negotiations.

‘Imran has become irrelevant’

The PDM chief said that the Pakistan Peoples Party had parted ways with the opposition alliance because of its policies. “We know better the politics of the PPP and they should review their policy,” he advised.

Taking a dig at the prime minister, he said that Imran Khan had become irrelevant in the Pakistani politics and his government was “unconstitutional and illegal”.

He said that the prime minister called every other person a thief but his own government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was facing allegation of Rs3 billion corruption under the head of Corona-related spending.

Maulana Fazl said that he would neither accept unilateral decisions of the government nor would he accept any elections under it. “Our only demand is just elections,” he said.

He said politics was not a children’s game, and insisted that one had to sit with one’s opponents.

The veteran politician said that everyone knew where conspiracies were hatched to divide political parties. He said people switched loyalty but such acts did not affect political parties.

Earlier, Maulana Fazl visited the residence of Ameer Bux Bhutto to express his condolence over the demise of his father, Mumtaz Bhutto.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2021