Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman continued his criticism against the opposition, urging it not to support the government on legislation and stand by its word to oppose it.
The JUI-F chief was speaking to media after offering his condolences at the death of Mian Sareer Hussain on Saturday, brother of ANP General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, at the party’s Bacha Khan office.
Whilst saying that there were no differences among opposition parties on the upcoming All-Parties Conference (APC) or the anti-government movement, he acknowledged that there were some problems among them.
Fazl said that opposition parties on the one hand criticised the government and referred to it as an illegitimate one. However, he said that on the other hand, opposition parties contradicted their own words when they supported the treasury benches by voting for the government's legislation.
"We cannot win the trust of people with contradiction in words and actions,” he said, adding, “We are in contact, but we have to get out of this hesitation and unite so that people can trust the opposition’s movement.”
Regarding the recent legislation in the Parliament on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), he said, ”On the one hand, we are celebrating the Independence Day, on the other, we are making legislation, which denies freedom. If there is a UN resolution that is against the law of Pakistan today then our freedom is over,” he said.
“We will not be able to delay if the United Nations tells us to comply with the demand in a few hours. What would be Pakistan’s position if the UN passes a resolution against Kashmir," he asked.
Fazl was referring to the opposition parties' support to the government on eight Bills in the parliament. Two FATF-related bills — the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill and the United Nations (Security Council) (Amendment) Bill — were passed by the parliament with the support of two main opposition parties a week ago.
However, on Wednesday, five bills sailed through the Lower House after support again from the two main opposition parties. The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, the Companies (Amendment) Bill, the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill and the ICT Trust Bill were passed by the National Assembly on Wednesday.
