Pakistani Army can't command respect being political decision maker: JUI-F's Fazlur Rehman

Lahore: The Pakistani Army cannot command respect being a political decision-maker, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of JUI-F has said and questioned its role in the alleged rigging of the February 8 polls that brought the PML-N-led government to power in the Centre and Punjab province.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Rehman, who heads Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazlur (JUI-F), said that the Pakistani Army should strictly stick to its role as the defender of the country.

"The Army as a defender of Pakistan is respected, but not as a political decision-maker. I don’t accept the February 8 electoral mandate because of massive rigging. I hold those (military establishment) responsible who have done it, not those for whom (PML-N of Sharifs) it was done,” the cleric said.

The powerful Army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 75-plus years of existence, has wielded considerable power in matters of security and foreign policy.

The military establishment is facing scathing criticism, especially from jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the JUI-F for allegedly stealing its mandate to install a hybrid government led by Shehbaz Sharif.

Khan, who has been in jail since August last year and sentenced to 31 years in three cases, has termed the election manipulation "mother of all rigging".

He even called the International Monetary Fund to link the release of its financial assistance to Pakistan to the audit of the February polls.

JUI-F's Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who was part of the Shehbaz-led government for 16 months after toppling Khan's regime in April 2002, has announced sitting in the opposition in the current parliament.

"The military establishment sabotages the electoral process and interferes in the democratic procedures. The resolutions of Corps Commanders’ Conference cannot deter criticism of it," he said.

On Wednesday, the Corps Commanders Conference dismissed the accusations of political interference and the February polls results in manipulation against the armed forces.

Not sparing the Pakistani judiciary, Fazlur Rehman said: "How can this judicial system accept 100 cases in a week’s time against a person (Imran Khan) fallen out of favour of the military and decide in favour of another 100 against a person (Nawaz Sharif), who has won the favour of the Army?" "Our judiciary now says former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was not given a fair trial 45 years after his hanging (at the behest of military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq) when all the judges died. Can he come back now?" he asked.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared that the trial of Bhutto was unfair and lacked due process.