Speculations rise as Zardari visits JUI-F chief’s house
The visit comes on the heels of Fazl’s ‘understanding with PTI’
The two leaders pictured at Fazlur Rehman's residence.
A VISIT by any president to residence of any opposition leader is bound to set tongues wagging. And if the president in question is Asif Ali Zardari, all kinds of speculations are sure to be made by the government and opposition figures alike.
President Zardari, known for his political acumen and a penchant for wheeling and dealing, called on Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Saturday, apparently to discuss the upcoming sessions of the two houses of parliament. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi accompanied the president during the meeting, which was also attended by some confidants of Maulana Fazl.
The meeting came a day after the Maulana reportedly reached an understanding with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to give a tough time to the government in parliament.
After the meeting, the President Secretariat issued a brief handout, stating the president and the Maulana discussed “the overall current political situation in the country”. Other than the handout, there was no official word from any side on the development.
Political experts, however, described the meeting as a significant one. The president has already summoned the National Assembly and Senate sessions on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Some political observers said the president might have tried to prevent Maulana Fazl from announcing any protest against the government and might have “made some offers” to him.
President Zardari is said to enjoy a good personal relationship with the JUI-F chief as the two had jointly played a key role in the ouster of the PTI government in April of 2022, through a vote of no confidence against then-prime minister Imran Khan.
Later, the JUI-F and the PPP remained in the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. However, the Feb 8 elections caused a strain in the relationship between them when Maulana Fazl refused to join the ruling coalition, accusing the PPP and PML-N of manipulating the elections with the help of the establishment.
On Friday, Maulana Fazl had received a PTI delegation headed by party chairman Gohar Ali Khan to discuss cooperation between the two parties that sit on the opposition benches.
Following the huddle, PTI leader Asad Qaiser had claimed the two sides had decided to cooperate on an “issue to issue and agenda to agenda” basis, and as the first phase of their joint strategy, had agreed to make efforts to block “controversial” legislation that the government was planning to table next week.
‘Key legislation’
The electronic media ran reports that the government is planning to bring some important legislation during the upcoming sessions of parliament. There were also rumours that the government is planning to extend the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, who is set to retire in the last week of October.
However, ‘Dawn’ reported that federal Minister for Information Ataullah Tarar had refuted these reports, stating that the upcoming sessions of the National Assembly and Senate were a routine affair aimed to fulfil a constitutional requirement regarding the total number of sittings in a year.
The minister categorically stated that the government had no plan to bring any legislation regarding the judiciary or change the seniority rules for judges, adding that there was no such thing on the agenda for the upcoming parliamentary sessions.