Fazl accuses govt of backtracking on talks with PTI, rejects emergency in K-P

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday accused the government of backing out of negotiations with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the opposition despite initially agreeing to their demands, and categorically rejected the imposition of governor’s rule or an emergency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Speaking to the media, Fazl said his party rejected the government’s decision to impose an emergency or governor’s rule in the province, describing it as an attack on democracy and the rights of the people.

“This is an assault on democracy and the rights of the people,” he said, adding that the JUI-F would use all democratic avenues to oppose the move, including taking the matter to the public, parliament and the courts.

Read: Emergency, governor's rule imposed in K-P after president signs summary on PM Shehbaz's advice

Explaining the sequence of events, Fazl said he had returned to Pakistan on Oct 7 after performing Umrah and met a PTI delegation the same day. The party had expressed a desire for him to play a role in resolving the crisis, he added.

He said he had conveyed to the PTI delegation his view that the government had left no room for negotiations. Despite this, he met a government delegation the following day, which also asked him to play a mediatory role.

Following his involvement, Fazl said, the PTI confined its long march to K-P and suspended its plan to move towards Islamabad, while making no major announcement. The government, meanwhile, postponed its plan to impose governor’s rule, which, according to his information, had been scheduled to be announced on that day.

“Since steps towards the long march were postponed on one side and the decision to impose an emergency was deferred on the other, we thought both sides were serious about reaching an understanding,” he said.

Fazl said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif subsequently invited him to dinner, an offer he accepted after consultations within his party. However, he added, the positions of the two sides became clear during the meeting.

“The government’s position was that the long march should first be called off, while the PTI demanded that it be allowed to meet Imran Khan and that Khan sahib be taken to a hospital for treatment in accordance with court orders,” he said.

Fazl said he asked both sides whether they agreed to these demands and suggested that they avoid arguing over which side should act first. If both agreed to the demands, he said, they could then decide whether he should assume the role of negotiator.

He said he first contacteDPM d the PTI leadership and held a conference call attended by K-P Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and party chairman Gohar Ali Khan along others. He asked the PTI whether it was willing to call off the long march, to which the party responded that it would be prepared to do so if its demands were accepted.

Fazl said he met the prime minister on Sunday, who agreed to accept the PTI’s demands. Both sides had agreed to reach a decision before a Cabinet meeting scheduled for the morning, with the possibility of postponing the meeting until the evening if necessary, he added.

According to Fazl, the prime minister called him at 9:30am and said he would present the proposals he had made before the Cabinet. Fazl said he initially took this as a positive indication that the prime minister wanted to take the Cabinet into confidence.

However, about an hour later, Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called him and informed him that the Cabinet had decided to impose governor’s rule.

“At 10:30am, DPM Dar called and said the Cabinet was leaning towards imposing governor’s rule and an emergency,” Fazl said. “I asked him on what grounds an emergency or governor’s rule could be imposed in K-P and told him to explain the reasons.”

He said DPM Dar cited the provincial government’s ineffectiveness in the fight against terrorism as the reason for the proposed action.

“I asked him whether the Balochistan government had not failed in dealing with terrorism, and why an emergency was not needed there but was needed here,” Fazl said.

The JUI-F chief accused the government of reneging on its commitments despite agreeing to the proposals.

“I am a witness to the fact that the government backed out after agreeing to the demands,” he said, asking why it had broken its commitment.

Fazl rejected the use of the fight against terrorism as a justification for imposing an emergency and criticised the role of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a coalition partner in the federal government.

He said it was the third or fourth time that the PPP, which presented itself as a champion of democracy, had been in government when an elected provincial administration faced what he described as an assault on democracy or an emergency.

“Whenever a provincial government has been subjected to an assault, or an emergency has been imposed, it has happened when the PPP is in government and Asif Ali Zardari is president,” he said.

Discussing military operations, Fazl blamed what he called flawed policies pursued from the era of former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf to the present for the country’s deteriorating security situation. Repeated military operations had failed to produce results, he said, describing this as a failure of policy.

He said he had been asked to support a military operation in the region and had no objection to doing so, but demanded an account of the outcomes of operations conducted between 2010 and the present.

Pointing to the deteriorating security situation in K-P, Fazl said people could no longer move freely in Dera Ismail Khan and police were unable to remain safely inside their stations.

“Police stations are emptied, and police personnel spend the night in houses in neighbourhoods rather than staying at their stations,” he said.

He questioned why the government wanted to focus only on terrorists while refusing to discuss its own failures and flawed policies.

“Will we discuss only the terrorists and not your failures? Will we not discuss your flawed strategy?” he asked.

Fazl said that if an emergency had to be imposed, it should be imposed on the federal government, which he described as illegitimate.

Reiterating his opposition to the decision, the JUI-F chief said his party would challenge the move through parliamentary and judicial forums.

“We categorically reject the decision to impose an emergency and will use parliament and the courts to oppose it,” he said.