While efforts are being made by different political groups to resolve disagreements over the elections, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the head of PDM, is considered as a significant roadblock in negotiations with the opposition, it emerged on Monday.
In an effort to bring the opposing parties Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to a compromise on the schedule of the impending general elections, Jamaat-e-Islami has initiated a negotiation process and is planning to hold an APC after the Eid.
The JI has decided to invite Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan to the conference, and for that, the parties have been contacted.
General elections will be the main topic of discussion at the next All-Party Conference (APC), which will try to persuade the government to hold them after May in agreement with the PTI that the elections would take place before October.
On Saturday, Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Siraj-ul-Haq has met with arch-rivals Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Imran Khan as political polarization reached its peak in country over holding of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in its move for political dialogue and removing the obstacle, has also initiated contacts with other political parties before holding talks with coalition partners the JUI and the PML-N.
It is to be mentioned here that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had formed a committee to engage the allies in the coalition government to reach a consensus on dialogue with all political parties.
The PPP has held talks with the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and Mohsin Dawar MNA, a PPP leader said. “The negotiating team of the PPP will likely hold meetings with the ANP, MQM, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party leaders today,” he said.
“The PPP will also hold talks with Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and the PML-Q today,” he added. “The JUI and the PML-N will be contacted after taking all other political parties on board.”
However, it emerged on Monday that JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman is against any kind of talks with Imran Khan-led PTI, according to a report in ARY.
Although, JI and PPP’s efforts have been appreciated and both parties have been assured of full cooperation from both PM Shehbaz, it seems the PDM couldn’t convince Mauluna Fazl thus far.
Earlier, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced that neither his party — the JUI-F — nor any other constituent of the alliance would hold talks with it.
The Maulana had declared PTI Chairman and deposed premier Imran Khan as an “unnecessary element” in the country’s politics.
