JUI-F, PTI at odds over dissolving KP Assembly, mass resignations

ISLAMABAD: The JUI-F and PTI made contradictory claims on Saturday about dissolving the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and resigning from other assemblies to force the government to call for new elections.

In a statement released by its media cell, JUI-F claimed that PTI was willing to dissolve the KP Assembly and resign from other assemblies to hold fair and transparent elections in the country.

The PTI issued a swift denial, with its information secretary, Raoof Hassan, saying that no such move is currently on the cards.

“I cannot talk any further over this subject. Even the JUI-F has not released this [statement] on its letterhead,” he said while replying to Dawn’s query.

Fazl claims moves aimed at forcing new, ‘transparent’ polls; Raoof, Gohar say no such action on the cards

Later, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan issued a statement saying that the issue of resignations was not discussed in meetings with the JUI-F leadership.

PTI-JUI-F ‘reconciliation’

The JUI-F statement also claimed that the party’s emir, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, has formed a committee to negotiate with PTI.

The committee, as it was stated, would be headed by Senator Kamran Murtaza and include Maulana Lutfur Rehman, Fazal Ghafoor, Aslam Ghori, and Maulana Amjad.

The JUI-F emir also conceded that relations between his party and the PTI had been “strained in the past”, and the JUI-F was “ready to normalise them”.

The discussions are “moving in a positive direction,” the statement quoted the JUI-F chief as saying.

Mr Rehman claimed that PTI believes that fresh elections and a true representative government are the only solutions to the country’s problems.

He added that all issues will be resolved “if the establishment dissociates itself from elections”.

“There will neither be economic stability nor the law and order situation under control without fresh, impartial and transparent elections,” Mr Rehman was quoted as saying.

Without naming any entity or group, he said that the situation cannot be brought under control through emergency or martial law.

“The situation has slipped out of their hands,” he said. “The establishment has to reconsider their policies as the country cannot be run this way.”

He said the establishment intended to make institutions and parliament “subservient” to it and warned that the prevailing situation could result in further disintegration of the country.

The JUI-F emir said politicians, including PTI founder Imran Khan, should not be prosecuted.

The JUI-F statement also announced a series of future events to be organised across the country next month.

A nationwide Black Day will be observed on Aug 5 to protest India’s actions in held Kashmir, followed by a farmer’s convention in Mardan on Aug 10, a trader’s convention in Peshawar on Aug 11, and a peace convention in Lakki Marwat on Aug 18.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2024