The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has again warned the federal government that it will quit the ruling coalition in Balochistan unless it takes urgent concrete measures to improve the law and order situation in the province.
The call came just a day after President Asif Ali Zardari’s meeting with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. President Zardari had invited JUI-F chief to rejoin the federal cabinet to run the democratic process smoothly and help restore peace in Balochistan and Karachi.
“JUI-F is considering giving a final ultimatum to the federal and provincial governments, urging them to ensure peace or be ready to see us quit the fragile Balochistan coalition government,” a senior party leader familiar with the development told The Express Tribune.
The party’s top leadership, he said, had conveyed his resentments to the president over the security situation in Balochistan and Karachi.
In his recent statements, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had expressed the hope that his party’s efforts to make MQM and JUI-F rejoin the ruling alliance would bear fruit.
JUI-F leaders contend that the government had failed to deliver, especially in economic and security spheres.
JUI-F’s provincial leadership conveyed a similar message to Chief Minister Aslam Raisani, making it clear that the party would no longer be a part of 40-month-old coalition, if the federal government did not take tangible measures to improve the province’s financial condition and stop targeted killing in Balochistan, said JUI-F Senator Dr Ismail Buledi.
“This should be construed as a wake-up call for prompt action…it is a call for peace in the province,” he hoped. The issue, JUI-F Balochistan leader Hafiz Hamidullah said, had been raised at a meeting with the Balochistan chief minister earlier this week.
He, however, said that his party had not set any deadline yet. When asked if his party would support army’s deployment in Karachi, the JUI-F Information Secretary, Maulana Amjad Khan, said: “We don’t support the idea. This move will lead political parties to work against democratic norms.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 12th, 2011.
COMMENTS (2)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ