PESHAWAR: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday ruled out the possibility of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the dissolution of assemblies in the two provinces.

“There won’t be any elections in Punjab and KP after the two provincial assemblies are dissolved by the chief ministers,” Mr Fazl told reporters after attending the Jamiat Lawyers Wing’s convention at the Nishtar Hall here.

However, the JUI-F chief didn’t elaborate.

When asked about the reluctance of the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led federal government to hold snap polls in the country, the JUI-F chief said that national politics couldn’t be subjected to someone’s whims and that political activities should be carried out in line with the constitutional provisions.

He earlier told the convention that the ouster of PTI chief Imran Khan as the prime minister came as a result of the PDM’s efforts and not in consequence of a conspiracy.

JUI-F chief says no conspiracy behind Imran’s ouster

Mr Fazl said that the PTI wasn’t elected to power and instead, it formed the government after poll rigging. He said that he, in one of his speeches during the PanamaLeaks times, had pointed out that political uncertainty would lead to economic turmoil and cause unstable national defence and that had happened.

“The PTI chief tried to destroy Pakistan’s defensive capability at the time of his ouster so that no institution could be there to save the country,” he said.

The JUI-F chief said that the Constitution was based onfour pillars of Islam, democracy, federal system and parliamentary democracy.

He said that Pakistan was an Islamic country as declared by the Constitution and that it could not adopt secularism.

Mr Fazl said that Pakistan had a democratic system, which called for the election of the people’s representatives to make legislation.

He also said that the Constitution also provided for four federating units and at the same time, it ensured a parliamentary form of government, so the country couldn’t have a presidential form of government.

The JUI-F chief said that such discussions were deliberately initiated after a decade or two to prevent the people, especially youth, from thinking about constitutionalism.

He also said that the war in Afghanistan and the defeat of the Soviet and American forces there would definitely send out a message to the world that democracy was not enough to bring about a change and instead, power “growing out of the barrel of the guns” brought about revolutions.

The JUI-F leader said that the country’s religious leadership, seminaries and all sects supported the Constitution and democracy.

He regretted that religion was linked to violence and militancy globally because of a bunch of people.

Mr Fazl said that Muslims were being suppressed in the India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Palestine, Syria and Myanmar but even then, they were called terrorists.

He said the US bombed Afghanistan for two decades in the name of peace.

“If the US was present in Afghanistan to maintain peace, then why it left the country,” he said.

The JUI-F chief said opposition to the China Belt and Road Initiative was the cornerstone of the US foreign policy and the last Imran-led federal government tried to roll back the China- Pakistan Economic Corridor initiatives in the country.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2023