PTI-JUIP leaders discuss ‘rushed’ constitutional amendments

ISLAMABAD: Ex-speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaisar met with Maulana Fazlur Rehman and other leaders of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (JUIP) on Monday in the wake of legislation in parliament.

Senator Maulana Abdul Wasay, Allama Rashid Mahmood Soomro, Aslam Ghori, Akunzada Hussain and Faisal Chaudhry advocate were also present in the meeting. Later, taking to newsmen, the JUIP spokesman Aslam Ghori said that during the meeting, it was noted the government had crossed the limits of fascism and executed legislation, which was a negation of the 26th Constitutional Amendment and the Constitution as a whole. “We reject the legislation done by an assembly that has a fake mandate,” he said.

PTI’s Akhunzada Hussain said that during the meeting, it was also observed the government was inciting the opposition while neither the PMLN nor PPP followed democratic values. He said the government through legislation was attempting to give an extension to itself.

Asked whether the PTI and JUIP could jointly launch a protest movement in the country, Aslam Ghori said the circumstances were now totally different. He said the JUIP got clauses relating to military courts removed from the initial draft of the 26th Constitutional Amendment but the government included some of those clauses in the latest legislation.