Rehman Malik wins back JUI-F’s support

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that he has received an assurance from Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam that his party will continue to support the government.

The JUI-F is part of the PPP-led coalition government in the Centre. Malik met the Maulana on Monday in Islamabad in a bid to allay the JUI-F’s concerns. The meeting came days after the party threatened to pull out of the ruling coalition.

On Saturday, two federal ministers from the JUI-F walked out of a meeting of the cabinet, saying that their party was not happy with the government because the ministries assigned to them were not being given proper funds.

After his meeting with Rehman Malik, the JUI-F chief said it was a positive meeting where they made good progress on outstanding issues.

“Maulana Fazlur Rehman is our friend and he has assured me of his party’s support for democracy and the Pakistan People’s Party,” Rehman Malik told journalists after the meeting.

Fazlur Rehman said his party wanted the democratic process to move forward and that it was the collective responsibility of all political parties to put the country on path to progress and prosperity.

Rehman Malik met the JUI-F chief on the instructions of President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani who do not want any rift in the coalition, especially at a time when the budget session of parliament is underway.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2010.