Gandapur blasts Fazl, says JUIF chief wants to ‘set his price’

ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur Wednesday lambasted Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for looking to “set his price” amid Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) attempts to secure support for its protest movement.

“Fazlur Rehman doesn’t even have a [single] vote in his own house [...] Even my [PTI’s] worker will beat him [in elections],” Gandapur said while talking to journalists in Islamabad.

Gandapur appeared before an anti-terrorism court on Wednesday in cases about audio leaks, violations of Section 144 and alleged involvement in vandalism at Islamabad’s judicial complex.

His remarks come days after the PTI and JUI-F “agreed on increasing party-level contacts” following Asad Qaiser’s telephonic conversation with Fazl, wherein the duo exchanged views on the current political situation and process of forming a government.

Stressing that both parties have “ideological coordination” regarding a public movement against the February 8 election results, Qaiser, during his interaction with the JUI-F chief, pitched the idea that those parties who believe in the supremacy of law should start a political movement against the incumbent government from the united platform of Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Dastoor.

Elaborating on the prospects of joining hands with the JUI-F, the KP chief minister on Wednesday said that he had no objections if Fazl extended his support to the PTI. “PTI founder [Imran Khan] has said that he is ready to sit with anyone for Pakistan’s interests,” he noted.

Addressing the country’s political situation, Gandapur fired a fresh salvo at the Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) government, saying the country suffered adverse consequences due to the experiment that was carried out to bring the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) into power.

“The country cannot afford further experiences,” he said while referring to the current PMLN-led coalition government as “PDM 2.”

During Wednesday’s hearing, PTI leaders including Shibli Faraz, Omar Ayub, Ali Nawaz Awan Amir Mughal and Shibli Faraz appeared before ATC Judge Tahir Abbas in various cases about their alleged involvement in vandalism following last year’s May 9 riots.

At the onset of the hearing, PTI leaders’ counsel Babar Awan apprised the court that the challan in the judicial complex vandalism case had already been submitted and urged the court to hear his arguments on the granting of bail on April 18.

To this end, the judge directed the lawyer to abstain from combining pre-arrest bail with challan and present his arguments on the issue of bail instead.

Addressing the investigation officer, Judge Abbas questioned whether the authorities still wanted to interrogate Shibli Faraz — also named in the judicial complex vandalism case — to which the official replied in the negative.

Meanwhile, appearing before the court, KP CM Gandapur, who is facing multiple cases, was allowed to leave after marking his attendance. The court then extended Gandapur and Faraz’s bail until April 27.