Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday and called for the timely dissolution of Parliament and the conduct of general elections as per law.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s House, Rehman—accompanied by his son and federal minister Maulana Asadur Rehman—appreciated the government’s strong condemnation of the desecration of a copy of the holy Quran in Sweden over Eidul Azha. The father and son, both leaders of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl), described as highly regretful the incident in Stockholm and lauded the prime minister and the Government of Pakistan for strongly rebutting attempts to diminish it under the guise of freedom of expression.
The prime minister, per the statement, appreciated the role of the government’s coalition partners, stressing that the country could not be steered out of its economic crunch without their cooperation. He also praised the JUI-F’s leader for standing with the government in taking difficult decisions aimed at achieving a stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Sources familiar with the meeting, meanwhile, said that Fazl had lamented to the prime minister of the heavy political cost paid by the PDM parties after they assumed the government following the ouster of Imran Khan as prime minister. Reportedly, he blamed PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari for this, noting that he had pushed for the ruling coalition to assume control despite the JUIF’s reservations.
The JUIF chief also stressed on Sharif to ensure elections happened on time, warning any further delays could prove politically damaging.
The meeting took place a day after Fazl—in an informal chat with journalists in Peshawar—voiced concern over recent meetings between the leaderships of the PPP and PMLN in Dubai, stressing his party had not been informed of them. JUIF spokesman Mohammad Aslam Ghauri sought to clarify this, claiming Fazl’s comments had been distorted by the media.
“Not only the JUIF, but the entire PDM was unaware of the talks in Dubai,” he said, adding “reservations” over the meetings were a natural consequence as they had not been taken into confidence. He also confirmed that the PDM chief had called for timely elections during his meeting with the prime minister, recalling that his party had wanted polls immediately after the ouster of Khan. “It was Asif Zardari’s idea to remove” Khan through no-confidence and assume the government, he said, adding that it would “soon” be disclosed who was behind the no-confidence plan.
Separately, per daily The News, PMLN leader Nawaz Sharif has sought to resolve the JUIF’s reservations by inviting him to a meeting in Dubai.