Fazl gives August deadline to govt, says would march to Islamabad otherwise

QUETTA: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman said Sunday the federal government had an August deadline to step down, warning, otherwise, that his party and allies would march to Islamabad.

Speaking to the participants of the 'Million March' here in the provincial capital, Fazl termed today's march to be the last one and said the next one would be towards the federal capital.

The JUI-F noted that if the federal government resigned by August, it would then be able to save themselves from the Opposition's march. However, if the leadership failed to do so, then, in October, Fazl and his allies would march to Islamabad alongside the entire country. He termed the potential demonstration as 'Azadi March'.

Fazl spoke of how the 2018 general elections were rigged and he did not accept its results. All political parties desire fresh elections, he said, adding that one the one hand, there was "back-breaking" inflation, and, on the other, there taxes were being "rained down" on the people.

Fazl also slammed the new requirement of presenting the national identity card (CNIC) for purchases worth more than Rs50,000. That, he said, was not a documented economy but a "foreign agenda".

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was trying to gain access to the pockets of shopkeepers at every nook and corner, he warned.

The JUI-F chief further criticised the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), saying the anti-graft watchdog carried out accountability during the tenure of former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and, at that time too, everyone knew of its character. However, the NAB had never been so completely unmasked before as it had been in the present, he noted.