Fazl accuses government of reneging on the commitments it made while he mediated between the Centre and the PTI, the JUI-F chief said on Sunday, hours after the cabinet imposed emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Maulana Fazlur Rehman told a press conference at his Islamabad residence, after an emergency meeting of his party’s Central Core Committee, that both sides had sought his help, agreed a course of action with him, and then abandoned it. The decision was already in force by then, as our report on emergency in KP recorded.
Fazl accuses government of reneging after a week of shuttle talks
Fazl said he returned from Umrah on October 7. Opposition leaders approached him the next day, and federal ministers visited him soon after, each side asking him to help resolve the impasse.
The standoff had built up since the PTI announced a long march to Islamabad to demand the release of its jailed founder, Imran Khan. Talks failed last week, the PTI marched but stayed inside KP, and federal ministers began linking a possible emergency to security and alleged PTI non-cooperation on counterterrorism. Both camps had been courting him for days (Shehbaz Sharif’s call to Fazl; the PTI keeping its doors open to his mediation).
Fazl said the PTI march avoided entering Islamabad at his request, and the emergency plan was deferred after the government’s delegation approached him. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif then invited him to the Prime Minister House, a meeting he attended on colleagues’ advice despite feeling the government had made up its mind.
Each side, he said, wanted the other to move first. The government insisted the long march be called off first. The PTI demanded that its leaders be allowed to meet Imran in jail, and that a court order on his transfer to a private hospital be implemented. Fazl asked both sides to authorise him as mediator, and he held a conference call with KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and PTI leader Asad Qaiser. He said Afridi told him the PTI would call off the long march if its demands were accepted. Fazl conveyed that position to the prime minister and asked for an assurance on the jail meeting and on Imran’s medical treatment. He also planned further talks in Peshawar, with two representatives each from the PTI and the PML-N under his supervision.
Dar’s call during the cabinet meeting ended the process
That process ended with a phone call on Sunday. Fazl said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar rang him during the cabinet meeting to say the government would impose an emergency in KP over the security situation.
Fazl said he questioned the reasoning at once: Balochistan’s security situation was worse than KP’s, he argued, yet no governor’s rule had been imposed there. He asked Dar “why I was asked to mediate” if the cabinet intended to decide on its own.
Asked whether politicians were to blame for the failure, Fazl said the question should go to the prime minister. He asked how much authority Shehbaz had held in the talks, and alleged that the government had created obstacles to a settlement.
JUI-F rejects the emergency as an attack on democracy
Fazl rejected the emergency and governor’s rule outright, terming it an attack on democracy and on the rights of the people. He said his party would challenge it in Parliament, the courts and every other constitutional forum. The opposition alliance has taken the same position, as our report on how TTAP condemned governor’s rule shows, and troops have since been authorised to deploy in the province (Pakistan Army deployment in KP).
He also regretted the PPP’s role, describing it as one that undermined the Constitution and democracy. He said his party stood firmly with the Constitution, and argued that the military operations strategy pursued since the Musharraf era had repeatedly failed. Asked whether the opposition would resign from the assemblies, he said that decision would be considered when the situation arose. Dawn’s report is here.
FAQ
What has Fazl accused the government of?
He accused it of reneging on the commitments made during his mediation, saying both sides had agreed a course of action with him before the cabinet imposed emergency in KP.
What had the PTI agreed during the mediation?
Fazl said Chief Minister Sohail Afridi told him the PTI would call off its long march if its demands were accepted. The demands were a jail meeting with Imran Khan and implementation of a court order on his transfer to a private hospital.
How will the JUI-F respond to the KP emergency?
Fazl said the party rejects the decision and will challenge it through democratic and constitutional forums, including Parliament and the courts. He ruled out bowing to the measure.
