Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was infuriated during the opposition’s much-hyped all-party conference (APC) after his speech was not aired live on TV channels and social media platforms, a private TV channel reported.
“The government restricts my voice from going in public but APC also did the same,” he said while venting out his displeasure. In a bid to pacify his ally, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto said that the decision was taken on the request of one of the JUI-F lawmakers. PPP leader Sherry Rehman said the speech was not aired because the session was in-camera and a press conference was also planned following the conference. However, Maulana Fazl while rejecting their clarifications said he wanted to register protest with the PPP and organisers of the APC over the ‘unjust move’. He said other leaders’ address would not have been aired if the session was in-camera.
Later, PPP’s Qamar Zaman Kaira said that Fazl’s address was broadcast on social media. He said that they had informed the JUI-F chief that electronic media was to tap into the social media stream to broadcast it on television.
Prior to Fazl, other political leaders addressed the all-parties conference which was held in Islamabad earlier in the day to chalk out a plan to oust the Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government.
The moot was attended by political bigwigs, and even addressed by deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari via video link from London and Karachi respectively.
