After JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman hinted at reconciliation with the coalition government, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday criticised the veteran politician for 'legitimising' the ruling regime.
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl seemingly lowered his rhetoric against the PML-N-led coalition government which he accused of coming to power via "rigged" February 8 general elections.
Speaking in the National Assembly on Wednesday, the JUI-F chief referred to the alleged manipulation in the election results saying whether the present parliament was a product of "Form 45 or 47", they had to accept and use it to address all the national issues.
Fazl also urged both the government and the opposition to confront the challenge of terrorism, saying parliament is the supreme institution.
"We never needed [Maulana Fazl] support, neither in the past nor today," Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’.
The religio-political party and the PTI had reached a consensus on cooperation in the National Assembly and the Senate in August.
Both the parties, who have traditionally been arch-rivals, have held multiple interactions since the February 8 polls owing to their mutual concerns regarding alleged election result manipulation and irregularities in the polls.
Later, the incumbent government stepped up its efforts to woo the disgruntled ally as President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held separate meetings with him and sought to assuage his concerns.
Before the 2024 general elections, Fazl was one of the closest allies of the PML-N and the PPP and headed the multi-party opposition alliance — Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — which successfully ousted the former premier Imran Khan from office via a no-confidence motion in 2022.
In today's show, Barrister Saif said the JUI-F chief always chose the side where he saw his benefit, saying the cleric politics has "finished" in KP where PTI-led government is in power.
“He [Fazl] doesn’t have enough seats to convene [KP] assembly’s session even with the support of all opposition members,” the KP spokesperson said, adding that the politician was eyeing KP’s governorship and two Senate seats.
He further said that Maulana Fazl changed his stance regarding the incumbent rulers for "personal gains", claiming that the latter always benefits his family members. “His brother will become a senator and another relative will get governorship,” he claimed referring to the reports that the JUI-F chief was offered top posts by the coalition government in return for supporting the incumbent rulers.
“We backed the objections of Maulana on ECP [Election Commission of Pakistan] and February 8 elections,” he said, adding: “But now, he has accepted this system.”