ISLAMABAD: PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday to stress the need for dissolution of assemblies and holding of general elections on time.

The Maulana, who is the emir of ruling coalition partner JUI-F, was accompanied by his son and federal minister Maulana Asadur Rehman. During their meeting, he told the prime minister that PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari’s suggestion to accept the reins of government after the ouster of PTI regime last year was a political mistake.

The meeting took place a day after the JUI-F emir reportedly expressed his displeasure over the meetings recently held between the PPP and PML-N leadership in Dubai. According to some media reports, the Maulana was not invited to those meetings as he was opposed to delaying the elections.

However, JUI-F spokesman Mohammad Aslam Ghauri denied his party chief had expressed any concerns or dislike over the Dubai huddles, claiming the media had distorted the Maulana’s off-record conversation with journalists.

Terms Zardari’s move to accept reins of govt after PTI ouster ‘wrong’; JUI-F claims Fazl’s remarks about Dubai meetings were ‘distorted’

“Not only the JUI-F, but the entire PDM was unaware of the talks in Dubai,” Mr Ghauri said. In the same breath, he added, “It is our right to have reservations about the talks as we were not taken into confidence.”

Referring to the Maulana’s meeting with the PM on Monday, the spokesman said, “We have categorically told the prime minister that delaying elections is not acceptable to the JUI-F, [nor] to the masses.”

The JUI-F statement also reca­lled that the party had favoured immediate elections after the fall of the PTI government.

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“Our position was to topple the government with street power” and go for elections, the statement by JUI-F said, adding, “but it was Asif Ali Zardari’s path to hold a vote of no confidence and dislodge the government; it was not our opinion”.

During the meeting, the Maulana told the PM that time would tell as to which powers were behind the no-confidence motion against the PTI government.

“We want elections in time, and delaying it would mean political loss for us,” the Maulana said, adding, “just like taking the government has proven to be a political loss for us”.

He said the position about elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the same.

While Maulana Fazl lauded the recent statement of the prime minister regarding dissolution of assemblies, he expressed concerns that some cabinet members belonging to the PML-N had talked about election delays on the electronic media.

Dawn reached out to several PML-N leaders for comment on the JUI-F’s stance, but did not receive a response until going to print.

According to an official statement issued by the PM Secretariat, Maulana Fazl called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to hold consultations over the current political situation of the country.

The prime minister appreciated the role of coalition partners in the government and said that without their cooperation, taking the country out of its economic woes and reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund would not have been possible.

He praised the JUI-F’s emir for standing with the government in taking the difficult decisions.

Both leaders of JUI-F appreciated the firm reaction of and steps taken by the government and the prime minister with regard to the highly condemnable act of the desecration of Holy Quran in Sweden.

The JUI-F leaders termed the incident in Sweden as highly regretful and lauded the prime minister and the government of Pakistan for a narrative in this regard.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2023