ISLAMABAD – Interior Affairs Minister Rehman Malik on Wednesday requested Fazlur Rehman who heads the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F to rejoin the PPP-led coalition government at centre, a private TV channel reported.
However, the JUI-F leader rejected the request and said his party had ratified the move and would not change its stance in the current circumstances. Rehman had made the request during a meeting with Fazl at the latter’s residence.
Later on, a 10-member delegation of the lawmakers from the Tribal Areas also met with Fazlur Rehman. On the occasion, Fazl rejected their request for the JUI-F chief to soften his stance toward Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
He said that he would not change his posture as the prime minister had sabotaged the PPP reconciliation policy. JUI-F leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad said that the JUI-F would only return to the government if President Asif Zardari sacked Prime Minister Gilani.
The prime minister must be punished for stirring up tensions when he sacked a JUI-F lawmaker from his cabinet, he said.
