- The JUI-F is really desperate
As long as Parliament is functional and the courts are delivering judgments, there is little sense in taking recourse to extra-constitutional means to overthrow an elected administration. When a government which has made promises to deliver is removed before the end of its mandated tenure, it can use its premature departure to justify the failure to implement its agenda. It is therefore wiser to let every government exhaust the time allotted to it so that it is left with no excuse for its lack of performance. It is intriguing that the JUI-F leadership should decide on a solo flight, disregarding important questions raised by the PML-N and PPP that need to be answered before the launch of what is now being called the Azadi March.
The PPP maintains that it is as opposed now to the change of government through sit ins as it was in 2014. While willing to work for the removal of the government through fresh elections, the PPP and PML-N are averse to a recourse to any means that could destabilise the system. The JUI-F claims that hundreds of thousands of protesters are to converge from all over the country on the capital city on October 27. If so, how will the JUI-F ensure that such a large gathering remains peaceful? With the KP CM maintaining that his government will not let JUI-F rallies pass through his province, there is a likelihood of clashes. If the Punjab government follows suit, there is all the more reason for widespread lawlessness. With the umpire on the administration’s side, how can the protesters force the PTI government to resign?
The JUI-F is desperate. Having no hope of winning the 2018 elections anywhere on its own, the JUI-F had contested as a part of MMA, a five-party alliance. The alliance was completely routed in Punjab and Sindh. The JUI-F fears that in case the PTI is allowed to rule in peace for long, the JUI-F and its allies might lose their traditional turf in KP and Balochistan too. This explains JUI-F’s desperation though it doesn’t justify its recourse to extra constitutional means to remove the government.
