Should I not Doubt Fazal?

Secretary-General Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman agreed to show some flexibility in his stance on contesting the January elections.Following a late Monday night meeting with Nawaz Sharif, he told reporters here, “Before this meeting, my party was not part of the consultations to reach a consensus on the elections boycott but now we will wait for the Charter of Demands for which a committee has been constituted.” After a lengthy meeting with Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif reached the residence of Senator Talha at around 1 am to meet ex-opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman. The Maulana maintained that the opposition parties should not go ahead with their plans to boycott the elections if the decision could harm these parties. “Our stance was that we can play a better role while remaining in parliament,” he said.He said the opposition parties should see that they do not suffer as they did after the 1985 elections. He pointed out that the main objective should be the restoration of the democratic process. To a question, he said his demand also included an independent judiciary and restoration of the judges.Nawaz Sharif told newsmen that he apprised Maulana Fazlur Rehman that elections could not be fair unless the judiciary was restored to pre-November 3 status. “We also apprised him that a Charter of Demands will be presented to him shortly,” he said.The former prime minister said he also told the Maulana that the government planned a mechanism for massive rigging during elections including transfer of officers and casting bogus votes to benefit the Pakistan Muslim League-Q.