Following weekend talks in Islamabad where both opposition and government sides urged dialogue, moderate voices have joined with constructive ideas. On Monday, JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman proposed fresh elections to resolve the deadlock and end governments born from what he called “rigged” polls.
“Neither the 2018 nor 2024 elections reflected public will,” the maulana stated. “Establishment-backed rigging must end—from Sindh to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa—and nationwide polls held anew.” His view, though echoed in his own checkered past, is timely and reasonable amid opposition demands for a new Charter of Democracy and government openness to talks.
Both 2018 and 2024 elections have been widely documented as flawed, yet parties deny benefiting from the irregularities. PTI rejects its 2018 “victory” as tainted despite facing similar tactics in 2024, undermining its reform calls. PML-N and PPP, aware of 2024 realities, accepted the outcome without pause, eroding their legitimacy.
Conditions now favor a reset: mutual acknowledgment of wrongs, halting political vendettas, reversing missteps, and agreeing to principled yet civilized opposition. Their prolonged conflict has damaged the nation, but civil resolution could redeem much.
