• Fazl’s party to sit on opposition benches, invites ‘deceived’ Nawaz to join them
• JI ‘not interested’ in limited alliance, announces protest in capital on Friday

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: As post-election alliances show signs of life amid widespread rigging allegations, Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) has decided to launch a protest drive, whereas another politico-religious outfit — the Jamaat-i-Islami — terminated its talks with the PTI for an alliance in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly.

The announcement by the JI follows the formation of a negotiation committee, which had been formed to hammer out the modalities of its alliance with the PTI, which needs its support to claim its reserved seats in the KP Assembly.

In a tweet, JI leader Liaquat Baloch said: “The JI had thought that its coalition with the PTI at the national level would be in the national interest, but if the PTI has changed its mind and it wanted to limit this alliance to KP, then the JI is not interested in such a limited offer.”

The JI said it had extended to the PTI unconditional cooperation in terms of the party, constitutional and parliamentary protection, which the Imran-led party welcomed but subsequently changed its mind.

He was referring to an announcement by the PTI, in which the party said it would enter an alliance with the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) in Punjab and the Centre, whereas the JI will be its ally in KP.

“Imran Khan has approved a coalition with two parties. We will join hands with the MWM at the Centre and Punjab and a coalition with the Jamaat-i-Islami in KP for the reserved seats. These are his decisions and we will implement them,” PTI spokesperson Raoof Hassan had told a news conference on Tuesday.

In response to the JI statement, the PTI said it was also having “second thoughts” about the decision since the JI had lost its seats in the KP Assembly following recounts.

JI spokesperson Qaiser Sharif said the JI will hold a sit-in in Islamabad on Friday against “widespread rigging” in elections, saying: “Its mandate in Karachi is stolen. The party will take its cases to the Election Commission of Pakistan.”

‘JUI-F in protest mode’

On the other hand, ex-PDM partner JUI-F rejected the election result, and decided to sit on the opposition benches in parliament in “protest mode”.

“Our central executive committee has noted that parliament has lost its importance and democracy is losing its case; now the decisions will be taken in the field rather than in parliament,” said Maulana Fazlur Rehman while addressing a press conference following a two-day meeting of the party’s central shura.

The Maulana also invited PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif to join him on the opposition benches, instead of becoming part of the government.

The JUI-F chief blamed the powers that be for “deceiving him and the PML-N”, saying that “they have not been fair, even with Nawaz Sharif”, without naming anyone.

“We will continue to struggle to have real democracy in the country sans the role of establishment,” Maulana Fazl said and announced that the establishment has to surrender its role in political affairs.

“We will be in the assemblies, but under the protest mode,” and added that they had done it in the recent past as well when the JUI-F was part of parliament after the 2018 elections but continued a protest movement against the government and the 2018 polls results.

The JUI-F chief alleged that the rigging during the 2024 polls even broke the records of the alleged rigging carried out in the 2018 elections.

He rejected the Election Commission of Pakistan’s statement in which the election watchdog declared the polls “free and fair” and said the ECP too has become controversial.

He claimed that the JUI-F lost elections due to “international conspirators who were unhappy with his move for stability in Afghanistan” and its support for the Palestinian people.

The JUI-F leader declined to give direct answers to certain questions, such as any possible patch-up with the embattled PTI. He said that they have differences with the PTI because of their mindset and mocked that “their minds too will change soon”.

The JUI-F also announced the party’s schedule for consultations with the provincial chapters of JUI-F, starting from Islamabad on February 22, followed by Balochistan on February 25, and KP on the 27th. The meetings in Karachi and Lahore will be held on March 3 and March 5, respectively.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2024