Fazl asks Nawaz and Zardari…: School your children to abstain from immature politics

ISLAMABAD/KARAK: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Ameer Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday sent messages to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari to school their children to abstain from doing immature politics. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who also leads the opposition alliance of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), expressed disappointment over Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders for giving statements against each other. The PDM head said it was decided that no one will issue any controversial statement before April 04.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman also urged Zardari to follow the decision of the PDM to support the candidate of PML-N for the slot of the Senate opposition leader. The JUI-F chief during a telephonic conversation with Zardari said it was a joint decision taken in a PDM meeting that its component parties would support the PML-N candidate for the opposition leader in the Upper House of the Parliament. “Fazlur Rehman was of the view that if Yusuf Raza Gilani had lost election for the Senate chairman slot, it did not mean that the PPP should not follow the decision of the PDM,” sources said, adding that Zardari made no commitment to Fazl and instead stated that he would discuss the matter with his party members to take their viewpoint before taking any decision in this respect.

Sources in the PML-N said it has mustered the support of 26 senators for its candidate for the Senate opposition leader, adding that now the PML-N is waiting for the formal response of the PPP and if there is no consensus, it will announce its candidate and details about the support of senators from other opposition parties.

Meanwhile, addressing workers of JUI-F at the residence of party leader Rehmat Salam Khattak, who was recently released on bail in the Hindu temple attack case in Karak, Fazlur Rahman said that they did not recognise the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and asked the workers to be ready for the call of the party to launch a long march against the government.

He urged the workers to reach the venue when they were called by the party leadership to stage the march against the government. The PDM president said the government had miserably failed on all fronts and added that the defenders of the government had also realised it. He vowed that the PDM would continue its struggle against the government till its ouster from the corridors of power. The Maulana said that they were not afraid of jails and would face all hardships to help restore true democracy in the country. He said that no effort would be spared to send this government packing.