Fazlur Rehman ‘biggest beneficiary’ of VONC: Faisal Karim Kundi

ISLAMABAD: PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi on Friday asserted that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who accused former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa of ousting former premier Imran Khan, was the ‘biggest beneficiary’ of no-confidence vote, ARY News reported.

A day earlier, Maulana Fazlur Rehman held former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and ex-spymaster Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, who was the then-Peshawar corps commander, responsible for the no-confidence vote against former prime minister Imran Khan and the PTI government.

Maulana Fazl was among top opposition leaders who spearheaded the efforts to oust the PTI founder under the banner of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

However today, the JUI-F chief backtracked from his statement regarding Faiz Hameed’s involvement in bringing no-confidence vote (VONC) against former prime minister Imran Khan, dubbing it a ‘slip of tongue’.

Speaking at ARY News programme ‘The Reporters’, PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi said that Faiz Hameed was posted at the Peshawar Corps Commander at the time of no-confidence vote.

He further said that Fazl was the head of the Pakistan Democratic Movement at the time and could have stopped the no-confidence move, adding that the JUI-F chief benefited the most from the move.

Kundi noted that a PTI delegation visited the JUI-F yesterday, acknowledging it as a good development. However, he said, Fazlur Rehman had alleged that his party’s mandate was stolen. “If it was stolen, then who was it given to? To the same delegation who visited him yesterday.”

Furthermore, he said PTI founder Imran Khan had contacted PPP co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari at that time to withdraw the no-confidence vote. “Imran Khan had said he would resign if no-confidence motion would have been withdrawn,” he added.

In April 2022, Pakistan saw for the first time in its history the ouster of a prime minister through a no-confidence vote. The efforts for the PTI founder’s removal were led by the then-opposition.

As many as 174 votes were cast in favor of a no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan. This was the first time in the history of Pakistan that a no-confidence motion against an elected prime minister succeeded.

Following the resignation of the NA speaker and deputy speaker, PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq as a panel of the chairman of the house began the proceedings on the matter.

The PTI had accused the country’s then-rulers of colluding with the US and hatching a regime change conspiracy to topple Imran’s government – a claim denied by the United States.