Much awaited decision: JUI-F agrees to join federal govt

PM decides to expand federal cabinet; two JUI-F lawmakers to take oath as ministers today.

ISLAMABAD:

After months of deliberation, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl has finally decided to join hands with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. Two lawmakers from JUI-F are set to join the federal cabinet today (Thursday).

According to sources, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has decided to expand the cabinet with the induction of three federal ministers and one minister of state. The three new federal ministers will be JUI-F MNA Akram Durrani, Abbas Khan Afridi and PML-N leader Khurram Dastgir, they said. JUI-F Senator Maulana Ghafoor Haideri will take oath as a minister of state, they added.



The new cabinet members will take oath in a ceremony today (Thursday). Prime Minister Nawaz will make a decision on the portfolios of the JUI-F lawmakers later this week, the sources said.

JUI-F will also join the cabinet in Balochistan after Fazl’s return from Saudi Arabia, sources told The Express Tribune. They said the provincial leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and JUI-F will discuss the matter at length upon his return.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman made the decision to join the federal cabinet after his last meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif earlier this month, the sources said.

Leaders from the PML-N have been trying to woo JUI-F to form a coalition since the elections were held in May last year. However, despite repeated attempts, there had been no breakthrough.



JUI-F had also decided not to join the Balochistan government in September last year, after months of deliberation. Earlier in May, 2013, before the forming of the new government in the province, the two coalition parties – National Party and the Pashtunkwa Milli Awami Party – strongly opposed the inclusion of JUI-F in the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2014.