No handshake this time: PML-N tells Fazl’s JUI-F it’s ‘too late’ to join forces

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has “refused” its former ally Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) offer to form a coalition government in Balochistan after Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s bombshell claims regarding 2022 no-trust vote.

JUI-F's Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri offered PML-N senior leader Ishaq Dar to form a coalition government in the province, according to an inside story between the two leaders.

However, Dar told Haideri that the PML-N was going to form a coalition government with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the province as the power-sharing agreement between the two parties had already been reached in the Centre, as per sources.

“The PML-N and the JUI-F can at least form a coalition government in Balochistan,” the sources quoted Haideri as saying.

However, Dar responded by saying: We wanted to go together but Maulana you are too late."

The PML-N leader said he had been trying to reach out to the JUI-F but to no avail. “Now we have struck an agreement with the PPP.”

Dar said he would apprise the party leadership of the JUI-F offer and a final decision in this regard rested with the top leadership.

The development came following Maulana Fazl’s bombshell claims that a no-confidence motion against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan was orchestrated and led by former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa in March 2022.

His claims put his former allies PPP, PML-N, and others on the back foot as they had long denied the allegations of the PTI founder that his ouster was engineered by the then army chief.

Fazl’s claims came after he refused to accept the February 8 elections, saying his party was made to lose elections in several constituencies via rigging and irregularities.

In a surprising move, he also met arch-rival PTI leaders and discussed launching joint protests against alleged rigging in the elections.

The PPP and PML-N criticised the JUI-F chief over his claims and rejected his no-trust and rigging allegations.