Chaudhrys approach Fazl on Army Act changes

Cleric refuses to support the amendment bills

ISLAMABAD: Leaders of the PML-Q -- a key ally of the ruling PTI – approached JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday seeking unanimous support in parliament for the bills providing legal cover to the appointment and extension in the tenures of the services chiefs.

However, the firebrand cleric reiterated his earlier stance that his party would not vote in favour of the bills and consider opposing it or remaining neutral.

PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, also known as the Chaudhry brothers, met the Maulana at his residence in Islamabad.

The Chaudhry brothers had played an instrumental role in placating the JUI-F chief when he had marched on Islamabad with his activists and supporters a couple of months ago demanding that the government should step down.

Apparently, the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, because of their personal rapport with the cleric, have been again assigned the task of trying to court his support for the bills.

According to sources, the Maulana categorically told the PML-Q leaders that “reconciliation won’t work at every place and time.”

Talking to the media after the meeting, the JUI-F chief said his party had come up with a clear stance on the matter after internal consultations.

The cleric also expressed his disappointment over the failure of the PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, to build a consensus among the opposition parties.

“He [Shehbaz] should have fulfilled the responsibility of presenting the opposition's joint stance,” he added.

“I contacted him [Shehbaz] and told him that it was his duty to unite the opposition but he talked about a middle way as opposition parties had different stances on the issue.”

The cleric said the Supreme Court’s verdict on the army chief’s tenure reflected the incompetence of the government.

“We had said earlier that we don’t want to drag the army into politics. The government tried to make the army and General Bajwa controversial. The situation became worse when the army was dragged into judicial matters,” he maintained.

The cleric proposed the dissolution of assembly.

“This assembly has no right to pass any law. The bills should be passed by a new and legitimate assembly as the court has given six months to legislate on the matter.”

The Maulana warned that a law passed in haste would have more loopholes as the government did not take the opposition on board while preparing the amendments.