The opposition slammed the government’s decision on Thursday to participate in United States President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” without parliamentary approval and called for the withdrawal of any formal involvement until a complete consultative process was undertaken. Addressing the National Assembly on the development, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that Trump was forming the Board of Peace according to his own wishes, deciding its membership himself and remaining its chairman. “If we then associate hopes of peace, economic stability and a better future for Palestinians with such a board, it would be nothing but deceiving ourselves,” he said. Fazl accused Pakistan’s policies of being shaped under global pressure and questioned whether current rulers followed Quaid-e-Azam’s stance on Israel, recalling that Muhammad Ali Jinnah had called Israel an “illegitimate state”. Fazl strongly criticised the decision to include Israel as a member of the Board of Peace. Announcing February 8 as a “black bay”, Rehman stated, “Our system is not democratic; it is being run through coercion,” adding that the two-thirds majority was “manufactured under pressure”. Concluding his remarks, he said that Pakistan should under no circumstances accept a US-led Board of Peace that included Netanyahu. “We should clearly refuse and state that under Trump’s chairmanship and with Netanyahu’s presence, this Board of Peace has no credibility or usefulness, and we reject it,” he stated. The NA session heard updates on the ongoing displacement from the Tirah valley in Khyber district. Fazl alleged that contractors in areas in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including Tank, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, and Dera Ismail Khan, were being forced to pay extortion money, stating that it seemed as if a certain amount of the budget was being allocated to armed groups. Following a surge in unrest and escalating security concerns, large-scale displacement is currently underway in Tirah Valley, with thousands of families leaving their homes for safer areas, including Bara and Peshawar. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also rejected the government’s decision to join the “Board of Peace”, saying such a move carried international significance and must not be taken without transparency and broad-based political consultation. In a statement issued on X, the party said it did not accept the decision and stressed that “decisions of such international significance must always be undertaken with full transparency and inclusive consultation with all major political stakeholders”.
Fazl, PTI slam govt move to join Peace Board
Published on: January 23, 2026 8:36 AM