JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Tuesday demanded fresh and fair elections in the country, putting JUI-F snap polls at the centre of his remarks to reporters in Islamabad. He also asked for an in-camera parliamentary session to discuss security, meaning a closed-door sitting that the public does not attend.
What the party is asking for
Speaking to reporters, Maulana Fazl shared decisions taken by the party's central committee and said the JUI-F believed in political dialogue. He announced a series of political activities in tribal districts, including a jirga, a traditional council of elders, and a workers' convention. Ahead of those events, the JUI-F snap polls demand was the main political message of the day.
He also said the party rejected the emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the northwestern province where the tribal districts are located. An emergency is a period in which the government holds extraordinary powers, and the JUI-F said it does not accept one in the province.
Security concerns and military operations
Expressing concern over the security situation, Maulana Fazl said his own life was unsafe and that his religious seminaries were also under threat. He criticised the government, asking, "Now that you have killed people, what is left to negotiate?"
He said that if the military claims to be fighting a war against terrorism, it should also acknowledge that the JUI-F has sacrificed 250 workers in that fight. He also questioned what repeated military operations in the region had achieved.
Tribal districts and the district government system
On militancy in the former tribal areas, now part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said young people had been "provoked" during the rule of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. He said his party had brought religious seminaries and the religious community alongside the state, and added, "We are not responsible for policymaking." He urged policymakers to explain the outcomes of their decisions and show their successes.
Maulana Fazl also questioned whether the district government system introduced under Musharraf had succeeded or failed. He noted that after 25 years, there were again discussions about restoring the same system. The remarks did not set a date for the snap polls or for the in-camera session, and the party's next steps are the jirga and the workers' convention.
