Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has echoed the opinion of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari on upcoming general elections, saying a delay of “few days” would not make any difference. In an interview with a local TV channel on Tuesday night, Maulana Fazl said if a few days’ delay could help in holding fair polls, then there was no issue. Earlier this week, PPP leader Zardari said it did not matter if the elections were held eight to ten days sooner or later. Maulana Fazl opined the same, however, he said he was not backing the delay to push any political
agenda but to ensure fair polls. He said all the concerns in holding polls including cold weather in high-altitude areas should be cogitated by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) seriously. Elections were delayed following the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and that was a reasonable excuse for people to accept delay in the polls, he reminded.

To a question, if elections were postponed indefinitely, he warned it would lead to street protests. To a query about Zardari’s claim of Afghan nationals’ names in the voter lists of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the JUI-F chief demanded for investigation into the matter. He said state institutions’ awareness of the law and order situation in KP was out of question. He said security forces had been dealing with terrorists for a long time in Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Waziristan and daily casualties were taking place. Terrorism was a protracted phenomenon in KP, he added. To a question about failure of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government, Fazlur Rehman said the coalition government could only keep Pakistan’s economy alive amid threats of defaults as a result of the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) government’s policies. He said the PDM kept the country from disintegration and default. He said short-term solutions were not an answer to the lingering troubles, hence free and fair elections should be held to install long-term government with the public votes.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)