How can poll campaign be run amid violence in two provinces: Fazl

ISLAMABAD/GUJRANWALA: JUIF chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said there is lawlessness in two provinces and asked how the election campaign could be run in these circumstances.

Talking informally to newsmen here on Tuesday, Fazl raised questions over possible conduct of the February 8 general elections and said a peaceful environment was required, so that elections could be held on time. He said instead of police, armed people were roaming in Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat and his party workers were being killed.

“My party is ready for elections but how they are possible in the present circumstances,” asked Fazl. “Are the general elections possible in the present state of lawlessness?”

Fazl confirmed political alliance with the PMLN for the upcoming elections. “We want to continue our cooperation with PMLN,” he said, adding the two parties would cooperate with each other and run the election campaign jointly. There would also be seat adjustments between the two parties. Asked who would be the next prime minister, Fazl said it depended on people who they wanted. “The PTI has been exposed and people are changing loyalties. Those who joined PTI in the past are now saying they were forced to do so.”

Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf has said there is no other option but to conduct the general elections on February 8. He said the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was a major political party and it always gave surprises in elections and would contest the elections on its own power.

“A level-playing field is the right of all parties. All patriotic people including Daniyal Aziz will speak Bilawal Bhutto’s language very soon,” he said at a press conference at the camp office of former state minister Imtiaz Safdar Warraich in Ladhewala.

Ashraf said Bilawal Bhutto’s visit to Gujranwala would be scheduled soon and preparations for it had been started. The Election Commission of Pakistan must provide a level-playing field to all the political parties because voters had now become eligible to vote only in support of the country.

He said the PPP would contest the elections in all constituencies and would not leave any seat unoccupied. The party would field the best candidates across the country.