JUI-F refuses to sign joint declaration of Grand Opposition Alliance conference

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) has refused to sign the joint declaration of the Grand Opposition Alliance conference. The JUI-F has said that the declaration comes from members of the opposition, while JUI participated in the conference as an observer.

JUI Senator Kamran Murtaza said, “JUI participated in the conference as a delegate,” which is why they will not become party to the declaration.

Islamabad administration shuts down conference venue

Earlier on Thursday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, speaking outside a private hotel, said that the “lawyers are not incompetent, it is about who controls the system.”

The Grand Opposition Alliance is holding a conference in Islamabad on February 26 and 27 (yesterday and today). The alliance has invited all opposition parties to join it. The representatives of the alliance said that future course of action will be decided in the conference.

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Yesterday, the Grand Opposition Alliance held the first day of the conference in the private hotel, but today when the members of the opposition alliance started reaching the venue, they were informed that the hotel had been shut down by the Islamabad administration. Frontier Constabulary and heavy police force has also been deployed outside private hotel where the conference was being held.

Speaking to media outside the hotel, Barrister Gohar said, “The people have risen, the voice of the people cannot be suppressed. The opposition conference will be successful.” He added that the judiciary should be independent and there should be rule of law.

“I had suggested that the conference be held at KP House, but the committee decided to hold it here,” he said, adding, “It is not a matter of revolution. The voice of the people should be raised and it has been raised. People sitting in the government spend 50 crores and have their pictures published in the newspaper, but they have no popularity among the people.”

SHAHID KHAQAN ABBASI LASHES OUT

Earlier, Opposition Coordination Committee Convener Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was also stopped from entering the hotel. Speaking to the media outside the private hotel, the founder of Awaam Pakistan party, Abbasi, said that “earlier when Imran Khan was doing all this, the current rulers had a different opinion back then. Now they themselves are [in power], and are doing the same things. So what is their opinion today?”

“This is the misfortune of this country,” Shahid Khaqan Abbasi added.

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He also said that he does not agree with founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan. He also criticized the current government using PTI’s terminology, he said, “Form 47 government has made a mockery of the constitution and law in the country.”

MEDIA TALK AFTER DAY 1 OF CONFERENCE

Yesterday, as well, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had expressed anger at the government’s attempts to stop the conference. In a media talk, post conference, Abbasi said, “We were trying to find a place for the past week. When we selected one location, [the government] got it canceled. When we selected the second place, we were told that it was the route for cricket teams. The third place, a marquee, was threatened with closure. Today, the first day of the conference happened at the fourth location we chose.”

He said that the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law were discussed, in which the media, lawyers and politicians participated. “The government is afraid of a conference. A few people had a conference in a closed room, which could not be tolerated,” Abbasi had said.

He also lamented the change in approach of the current government from the time when it was in opposition. “PML-N and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) were once advocates of democracy. PML-N and PPP are advocates of power today,” he said, adding, “The government is not allowing discussions on the issue of the constitution. Today, even a conference in the name of the constitution is not possible.”

JUI-F hints at grand opposition alliance

The former premier said that democracy and the supremacy of the constitution are the responsibility of everyone. “If there is no democracy, the country will not run. If there is no supremacy of law, the country’s economy will not run. Grand Alliance happens later, first a unanimous thinking and action are needed.”

He also shared that political parties have differences and reservations among themselves as well.