A day after rejecting the results of the General Election 2024, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) President Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the no-confidence motion against former prime minister Imran Khan was tabled on the directives of ex-army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
In an interview to a private news channel on Thursday, Fazl, who was the chief of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) responsible for removing Khan, said: “I was personally against the no-confidence move […] but if I had said no despite insistence of other parties, then an impression would’ve been given that I ‘saved’ the PTI founder.”
The PDM removed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in April 2022. Led by Shehbaz Sharif, the PDM then ruled the country for 16 months before handing over the reins to the caretaker government.
Fazl, during the interview, said: “While the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was running the movement for a no-confidence motion, Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid told me that I could do whatever I wanted, but within the system.”
The JUI-F chief said Hamid told him that he could not “do anything outside the system” — meaning that every move should be made inside the parliament, not on the streets.
“But I rejected his directions,” he said, but noted that later on, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), and others left the PTI-led government.
“When they said that [the anti-PTI] is now in majority, I had to agree with them otherwise it would’ve been said that I helped save Imran Khan,” the JUI-F chief said.
