ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

ISLAMABAD: Following his meetings with Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Raja Nasir Abbas, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Thursday that a united opposition would be formed to confront the government.

The development came a day after the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a major coalition partner of the federal government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and opposition parties agreed to cooperate on legislative matters.

Speaking to media persons after the meeting, the JUI-F chief said that opposition parties had, in principle, agreed to form a united opposition. The development was also confirmed by a spokesperson for the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), led by Mahmood Khan Achakzai, in a statement.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman said Thursday’s meeting was the first such interaction among the opposition parties and that they had decided to form a “united opposition”. He added that it was only the first session and further consultations would take place.

The JUI-F chief said all opposition parties would come together to form the united opposition, while contacts among them would be strengthened and a joint strategy would be finalised. He said the next gathering of opposition parties would consider convening an All Parties Conference (APC) to devise a joint strategy.

The JUI-F chief met the opposition leaders in the National Assembly and Senate in the opposition chamber at Parliament House in Islamabad. They discussed the country’s current political situation, parliamentary affairs, cooperation among opposition parties and future political strategy, the spokesperson said.

The participants expressed concern over and condemned the “government’s attitude and behaviour towards the opposition in the National Assembly and Senate,” he added.

“The opposition leaders said that in a democracy, the opposition’s voice is heard, not suppressed.”

According to the opposition alliance, the meeting also discussed the “policies being adopted by the government, the role of the opposition in Parliament, and the future strategy for protecting the Constitution and democracy”.

“Fazl and Achakzai also exchanged views on making contacts among opposition parties more effective and adopting a joint strategy at the parliamentary level,” the statement said. It added that the participants agreed to continue “further consultations among opposition parties and formulate a joint course of action”.