Despite Machiavellian moves, the Maulana seems marginalised

Seemingly snubbed by PML-N, the JUI-F may have to sit on opposition benches in K-P .

ISLAMABAD:

Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s abortive attempt to subvert the mandate of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by building an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has left the JUI-F in something of a quandary, say independent analysts who are keeping a close eye on K-P’s power play.

The PML-N’s snub to the JUI-F’s proposal of effectively stealing the PTI’s election mandate by setting up a  shaky multi party coalition government in KP reflects Mian Nawaz Sharif’s desire to let PTI exercise its constitutional right to form a government in that province.

PTI, despite being the single largest party with 35 seats in a 99-member KPK assembly is not in a position to form a government on its own strength.

The Maulana, a past master of wheeling and dealing, was hopeful that his JUI-F’s 13 seats could join with the PML-N’s 13 seats, and also take along the Jamaat-e Islami and Qaumi Watan Party with their 7 seats each. He was also eying the 14 independent members, and hoped that this combination could easily sideline PTI in capturing power in the province. But this was not to be.



‘’It is the PTI’s right to form a government in K-P as it has emerged as the single largest party in the provincial assembly‘’, said PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq. ‘’We have told the Maulana that we respect PTI’s mandate,” was his reply when asked to explain his party’s position on the JUI-F chief’s idea of cutting out the PTI.

However, Zafarul Haq was not willing to share his party’s position on whether PML-N will accept Fazl’s offer of his 8 national assembly seats to help the PML-N in the formation of federal government.

The PML-N, which has 123 NA seats of its own, needs 14 additional seats to meet legal requirements for the establishment of a government in the Centre.

JUI-F had won 10 seats in the national assembly but effectively has only 8 seats, as election rules mean the Maulana has to vacate two out of the three seats that he was elected on.

The evergreen Maulana, who has enjoyed the perks of power no matter which party rules in Islamabad, has been desperately trying to enter the corridors of power this time around as well, but has apparently been thwarted by Nawaz Sharif’s “principled  stance” on the future K-P government. It seems the Maulana may now have to sit on opposition benches, at least in the K-P assembly if not in the Centre.

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Munawar Hasan expressed his unhappiness with the Maulana’s designs, saying that each and every party should respect the electoral mandate of the PTI. ‘’Such conspiracies to dislodge the PTI will derail the democratic process in the country, he warned.

Despite the PML-N’s snub to the Maulana, Hasan is not satisfied with what he sees as the ‘ambiguous’ statements of the Sharif brothers. ”They should publicly reject the JUI-F’s adventurism in K-P. Denial of the electoral mandate to the majority party in then East Pakistan was the cause of the 1971 debacle that led to the breaking of Pakistan ‘’ he warned.

Hassan’s fears about behind-the-scenes double dealing were seemingly confirmed by Jan Achakzai, a spokesman of Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Achakzai claimed that Nawaz Sharif, during a telephonic talk with the JUI-F chief assured him of his party’s support in creating a JUI-F-led government in K-P. The quid pro quo for this support, according to Achakzai, was the JUI-F’s help in countering the rigging allegations levelled by the PTI against the victorious PML-N. In this power play, no one can be one hundred percent sure who will come out on top, the Maulana or the ones with the mandate

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2013.