Maulana Fazl says ‘joining parliament instead of elections was a mistake’

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) Supremo and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman said Tuesday that the decision to join parliament instead of new elections was a mistake, ARY News reported.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, while talking to a private news channel, said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) got benefits from some ‘political mistakes’ of the PDM and its allies. “When PTI’s popularity level was low then we decided to go for new elections.”

“It was our mistake to join the parliament instead of new elections. Our priorities had changed after joining the parliament as we could not hold polls until completing the tenure.”

The JUI-F chief blamed the PTI for pushing the country on the brink of default. “We reduced the country’s debts during the 16-month rule and saved Pakistan from default.”

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“We have already told everyone that we could not uplift the country and PTI’s popularity graph would go up. We had opposed all options to go for making any compromises with the PTI chief.”

“We demanded PTI chief’s unconditional resignation which would dissolve the no-confidence motion.”

Maulana Fazlur Rehman said they refrained from giving harsh statements against former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa due to moral obligations.

He said that JUI-F strongly opposed PTI due to its policies destroying the country’s ideology and economy.

Earlier, Fazlur Rehman accused Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of breaking its promise and delaying general elections.

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While talking to anchorpersons in Lahore, Maulana Fazlur Rehman predicted that general elections would be held at the end of February. “Immediate organisation of the elections is inevitable due to the ongoing situation. It is difficult to run election campaigns in tribal areas.”

He blamed PPP for unfulfilling the promise in the final moment. “Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), Akhtar Mengal and others had reached consensus to demand immediate elections. PPP had urged to bring a no-confidence motion in the final moment.”

The PDM head claimed that elections would have been held today if PPP had not broken its promise.

Maulana Fazl said that the mistakes of politicians have resulted in a powerful establishment.