Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi could not have made recent remarks without consulting the prime minister, while calling for a national policy to address the country’s political and administrative challenges.
Addressing a press conference in Quetta, Fazlur Rehman said there was no comprehensive national policy to improve the country’s current situation. He said the proposal to create new provinces should be considered carefully in light of Pakistan’s administrative structure and overall capacity.
He said creating new provinces was not a bad idea in principle, but stressed that it was not a simple process and required serious consideration of the country’s political, constitutional and financial realities.
The JUI-F chief alleged that new political debates were often introduced to divert public attention from pressing national issues. He urged Mahmood Khan Achakzai to convene a meeting of the joint opposition to discuss the country’s political situation.
Fazlur Rehman said if such a meeting was not called, his party would organize a broader national-level conference to deliberate on the challenges facing the country. He warned that democracy could not flourish if governments continued to be formed according to individual preferences rather than the public mandate.
He further said democratic institutions had weakened and Parliament was no longer functioning effectively. According to him, Pakistan must be governed strictly in accordance with the Constitution to restore public confidence.
Calling for a fair and nationally inclusive policy, Fazlur Rehman said the country needed governance based on justice and equality. He also confirmed that JUI-F had decided not to join the government in Balochistan.
Commenting on provincial politics, he said JUI-F remained the country’s largest public political movement and added that he had no knowledge of any proposal regarding Abdul Malik Baloch becoming the next chief minister of Balochistan.
