Pakistani opposition party expels leaders after criticism of anti-government movement

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman (C), speaks to their supporters during an anti-government "Azadi (Freedom) March" in Islamabad on November 13, 2019. (AFP/File)

• Expelled leaders said the anti-government Pakistan Democratic Movement cannot topple Imran Khan
• The expulsion of four senior party members is expected to affect the popularity of JUI-F on the grassroots level 

ISLAMABAD: One of Pakistan’s main opposition parties, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F), on Friday sacked four of its senior leaders who made critical statements about the anti-government Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) of which JUI-F is part.
The PDM is an alliance of 11 opposition parties, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and JUI-F, which was formed in September to start a countrywide campaign to remove Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government and hold new elections.
The expelled JUI-F leaders — former Council of Islamic Ideology chairman Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan and Maulana Shuja-ul-Mulk — last week criticized the party’s involvement in the PDM, with Sherani saying that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman joined the anti-government alliance for “personal gains.”
“The party’s central executive committee has made a unanimous decision,” JUI-F spokesman Maulana Muhammad Ghauri said in a statement, referring to the expulsion of the four senior party members.
He added that the party has “no link to any statement or opinion of the expelled leaders.”
On Sunday, Sherani said that the PDM cannot topple Khan’s government. He also took a jibe at the JUI-F leader himself who he said was “selected,” in reference to Rehman’s and PDM’s claim that Khan was not elected in 2018 but “selected” by state agencies.
Other expelled leaders had also raised their voices against the anti-government movement, which after a series of mass rallies in planning a long march on Islamabad if Khan does not resign by Jan. 31.
Sabookh Syed, an expert on religio-political parties, said the expulsion of the four senior members from the JUI-F would send a negative message to its workers at the grassroots level, but was unlikely to impact the overall anti-government movement.
“The expulsion of these leaders just over a difference of opinion over the anti-government movement is not a good omen for the party,” Syed told Arab News, adding that the expelled leaders have a huge followership in their respective constituencies and the decision will affect the party’s popularity.
“The JUI-F chief has in fact tried to crush dissent within the party through this expulsion order,” Syed said. “But it will keep haunting him for a long time.”