Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman on Saturday warned against any attempt to delay the upcoming general elections, saying no excuse would be accepted to postpone the much-awaited polls.
Addressing a press conference after chairing a meeting of his party’s central executive committee, the JUI-F chief said the government might use poor law and order situation as a pretext to delay polls, but added that his party would not accept any excuse. He cautioned that any delay in polls would further deteriorate the security situation. He said that no one had contacted him or any other leader of his party on the issue of caretaker setup, and denied knowing any development in this regard.
He said that millions of voters in Karachi had different permanent addresses written on their national identity cards while they lived somewhere else. He said the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision on verification of voters’ list in Karachi was justified.
Responding a question on the SC’s ruling on the law and order situation in Balochistan and the provincial government’s failure to resolve the crisis, the JUI-F chief said the apex court’s decision and its remarks were “undemocratic”. He said the apex court had held the federal government, law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies responsible for the poor security situation, asking why the provincial government alone had been declared a failure.
On another question, Fazl said that his party would strongly oppose any legislation to protect dual nationality holders. He said the government was trying to introduce legislation to give cover to those holding multiple nationalities, adding that his party would oppose any such move. He said Kalabagh Dam was being turned into a technical issue, as three provinces had passed resolutions against it. Speaking about the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Fazl said the alliance contained five religious parties, and its next meeting would be summoned by the first week of January in which component parties would decide on including the Jamat-e-Islami.