Supporters of 'incompetent' govt are also culprits: Fazl

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Monday that even the supporters of the "incompetent" government are culprits and involved in all the problems being faced by the country today.

Addressing a gathering of JUI-F workers in Tank, Fazl said that the incumbent government did not have the right to stay in office as it was "illegitimate" and "incompetent".

"This illegitimate government is a product of fraud," he said, adding that the country belongs to everyone and that it wasn't anyone's personal property.

"I am bound by the oath I have taken [...] In this situation, we have to do principled politics," Fazl said, adding that all Opposition parties were on the same page that the 2018 general elections were "rigged".

Today, the "illegitimate government" is on a campaign to defame me, Fazl said, adding that it had attempted to discredit him by serving a NAB questionnaire.

This is an attack on Jamiat, Fazl said, adding that if he were to appear before the National Accountability Bureau, his "entire party would come along with him."

"We don't accept pressure, we exert it," Fazl warned.

Fazl said that the incumbent government was weakening institutions and that it was equal to pulling out a tree from its roots.

The JUI-F chief said that the overall annual growth had fallen below zero and predicted that it would fall further in the next two years. "The State Bank says that the country's growth has never fallen to such an extent."

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"Pakistan is facing internal and external problems," Fazl said, adding that the state would be strong when its economic conditions improved.

Fazl revealed that PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had written two letters — one addressed to him and the other to PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif.

Talking about the contents of the letter, the JUI-F chief said that Nawaz regretted the PML-N's decision of having its parliamentarians take oath after the elections, despite Fazl saying otherwise.

The comments come a day after several political leaders of PDM addressed crowds gathered on Sunday at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in Larkana to commemorate the 13th death anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The 11-party Opposition alliance, once more, asked Prime Minister Imran Khan "to step down" or face the movement's long march to Islamabad with the aim to "dethrone him".

PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that if by January 31, the premier does not resign, the jiyalas (party loyalists) will march down to the capital and "drag him off his seat".