Maulana Fazl stresses need for fresh elections in country

Lahore: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman expressed grave concerns on Wednesday over what he termed the “stealing of public mandate” in the recent general elections. Rehman criticized institutions for allegedly manipulating the election outcomes to strengthen their authority.

In his addresses to public gatherings, the JUI-F chief has repeatedly described the February 8, 2024, general elections as more rigged than the 2018 elections. Last week, JUI-F observed a wheel-jam strike in Balochistan, protesting against alleged rigging in the January 5 by-election for the provincial constituency PB-45 (Quetta-8), where the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate was declared the winner by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Maulana Fazlur Rehman stated, “Institutions manipulate election results to consolidate their authority, while politicians also make compromises on their principles to come to power.” He added that the growing strength of authoritarian forces is a result of the weaknesses of politicians.

The JUI-F leader emphasized that any institution exceeding its constitutional limits should reassess its behavior. “Any institution that exceeds its constitutional limits should review its behavior,” he said.

Rehman asserted that JUI-F won the by-poll in Balochistan according to Form-45. He lamented, “The tragedy is that this is the second election that people are not happy with.”

He called for all institutions to operate within their constitutional boundaries and criticized the current state of parliament, stating, “Today, parliament is useless.” Stressing the need for fresh elections, he questioned, “If there is room for a rigged election, then why not early elections?”

In response to a question, the JUI-F chief expressed satisfaction with the ongoing negotiations between the ruling coalition and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He remarked, “I am a politician and always support negotiation. There are good hopes from the talks between the government and the PTI.”

Rehman reiterated his belief that politicians should not be imprisoned and voiced his desire for issues to be resolved through dialogue. “I wish that the issues are resolved through negotiations,” he concluded.