Maulana's Moment: Who will prevail in the battle for judicial and parliamentary supremacy in Pakistan

With his trademark inexplicable smile, Maulana Fazlur Rehman dodged reporters as he headed to parliament.

He had a reason to smile - he knew he was slaying it. He was being wooed by friend and foe, and had all of Pakistan’s political players dancing to his tune. All to vote for a constitutional bill that could steer the country’s judicial and political future.

Rehman is a canny politician who knows how to carry political weight despite thin numbers in Pakistan’s parliament.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman heads the right-wing political party Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) - JUIF - which has wielded power through running free educational institutes called madrassahs, and its ability to marshall large rallies. His constituency is primarily in the northwest provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

In the KP, JUIF’s main rival for votes is the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The JUIF has lost badly to the PTI in the last three elections; former prime minister Imran Khan used to taunt him with the label “Maulana Diesel” at numerous rallies, a hearsay reference to alleged corruption in the transport of fuel.

But just a few months ago, Maulana had little reason to smile. In fact, he was angry. Very angry.

His party had been drubbed in the February elections even though one of his senators was appointed governor of KP in 2022. Local journalists say the JUIF had a say in transfers and postings in the provincial administration, a move meant to influence favorable election results.

But Maulana Fazlur Rehman did more than make administrative moves in a province he hoped to recapture - he demonstrated his usefulness to the security establishment by leading a delegation to Kabul in January this year.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, terrorist attacks in Pakistan have surged by 60%, with most targeting security forces. Rehman tried to get the Afghan Taliban to help Pakistan wipe out the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The TTP found refuge across the border after military operations in Pakistan in the mid-2000s.

After his party’s defeats in February, Rehman refused to join the coalition government, led by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his traditional allies, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Instead, he has played cat and mouse with the PTI over the summer, which has been mustering support from anti-military establishment political parties to pressure the government into holding fresh elections.

Now the coalition government needs JUIF. But as a shrewd politician who has survived assassination attempts, and waning and waxing political fortunes, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has found his moment.

Who met Maulana Fazlur Rehman and when over the weekendInput by correspondent Javed Hussain

What does Maulana Fazlur Rehman want?

by Anas Mallick

Insiders reveal that Maulana Fazlur Rehman has in principle opposed the constitutional amendments prepared by the government, especially with respect to media speculation that the ruling coalition wants to give the current chief justice an extension in his tenure.

While addressing the lower house of parliament last Thursday, Rehman remarked sarcastically, “Why not extend the parliament’s duration as well?”

According to sources, one of Rehman’s demands is to be made president. When former prime minister Imran Khan was removed from office through a no-confidence motion in 2022 led by then opposition parties PMLN and PPP, Maulana had been promised the presidency in return for his support.

The other two demands are about the KP and Balochistan governments. Maulana Fazlur Rehman wants the governorship of KPK and the government in Balochistan - both of which are with the PPP.