Shahbaz-Fazl meeting, joint press conference delayed till Friday

LAHORE: A meeting between Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif, scheduled for Wednesday (today) and a joint press conference to announce the final roadmap of the so-called Azadi march, has been postponed till Friday, PML-N Punjab Information Secretary Azma Zahid Bukhari told The News on Tuesday.

The JUI-F sources said Maulana Fazlur Rehman was scheduled to reach Lahore on Wednesday on the invitation of Shahbaz Sharif to discuss the final strategy of Azadi march and hold a joint press conference. However, his visit had been delayed for two days, the added.

Sources said the Maulana had been busy in consultations with the party leaders about the letter, written by Nawaz Sharif containing instructions for his own party leadership to launch the Azadi march and the forthcoming anti-government movement. Besides, the Maulana was also holding consultations with his party leadership regarding the reservations expressed by senior PML-N leaders against the likely sit-in, following the Azadi March, sources added.

The PML-N central leadership has already decided in its consultative meeting to follow the Nawaz Sharif instructions given in a letter delivered to Hussain Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif regarding participation in the Azadi march. However, senior leaders have expressed reservations over joining the possible sit-in at Islamabad. According to sources, the JUI-F leadership was concerned about the conditional participation by the PML-N leadership.

Maulana Fazl has also been contacting the leaderships of like-minded political and religious parties about the Azadi march plan. In this connection, he telephoned Jamaat-e-Islami naib ameer Liaquat Baloch on Tuesday and discussed with him details of the Azadi march. A JI spokesman told the media Maulana Fazl discussed the march programme with Liaquat Baloch. He said Baloch reiterated his party’s support to the fundamental and constitutional right of the opposition parties to stage peaceful political protest against the government policies. He also reiterated that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, which had staged a 126-day sit-in in Islamabad against the then government in 2014. had no right to use the state force to block the similar protest against its government by the opposition parties.