LAHORE:
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said on Saturday it would continue to engage with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on an issue-by-issue basis, while acknowledging that efforts to build a broader opposition alliance had failed due to mutual distrust and political differences.
PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram lamented that the JUI-F had “depleted all our previous efforts to form a grand opposition alliance”, while rejecting the party’s claim that the PTI had changed its position on the 26th Amendment.
However, he maintained that the PTI would still continue the engagement on issues, as suggested by the JUI-F.
As talks between the Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Aeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) and the JUI-F yielded no meaningful result, both sides blamed each other for the collapse of the opposition’s coordination efforts.
The JUI-F accused the PTI, the key component of the alliance, of betrayal during the discussions on the 26th Amendment and alleged that this had “sown a seed of distrust” between them.
It also cited lack of leadership within the PTI as a reason for not being able to form a broader alliance. The PTI, however, insisted that its position on the 26th Amendment was unequivocal and had been clearly conveyed to Maulana Fazlur Rehman during meetings.
The PTI, in turn, raised its own concerns, saying it had expected the JUI-F chief not to support the passage of the 26th Amendment.
According to PTI, he not only went against their advice but also created a misleading impression of PTI’s position on the matter.
During the deliberations on the change, it was further alleged that the Maulana had explored the idea of a seat realignment in Dera Ismail Khan as a quid pro quo, to which the then Chief Minister, Ali Amin Gandapur, expressed willingness for any number of seat realignments, subject to the approval of the party’s founder.
PTI, however, claimed that Maulana’s party ultimately chose to side with the government, thereby betraying the opposition.
The PTI also accused him of deliberately maintaining a vague stance to keep channels open with the government.
Sheikh Waqas Akram said that was Imran Khan’s instruction to PTI: “to engage all opposition players, to form a grand opposition alliance.”
“We met the JUI-F chief several times in this regard. However, the Maulana sought time to discuss our proposal with his party leaders and later rejected their offer, saying that the JUI-F executive council had discussed the proposal and decided to work only with the opposition parties on an issue-by-issue basis.”
He added that the PTI hoped that the JUI-F would take a firm stand on issues concerning the people, including inflation, law and order and the 28th Amendment. He further clarified that the recent rapprochement was not directly by PTI but through TTAP and must be seen in that context.
On the other hand, the JUI-F reiterated that it remained open to forming an opposition alliance even with the PTI on national issues. JUI-F leader Maulana Amjad said that currently there was nothing going on in the opposition camp.
“We have already announced a nationwide protest at the district headquarters level against inflation on May 22,” Maulana Amjad told The Express Pakinomist.
He clarified that the party had not invited any opposition group to participate in the protest as it was solely a JUI-F initiative.
He said that exploring the possibility of an alliance with the PTI raised two major issues: first, the unresolved distrust over the 26th Amendment, and second, what he described as the absence of effective leadership in the PTI.
He further said that infighting within the PTI remained an “insurmountable obstacle” to any alliance, adding that it actually benefits the incumbent government in Parliament.
“Absence of any formidable opposition is tantamount to giving a walkover in the legislature to the government,” he said.
Maulana Amjad added that PTI’s internal divisions had weakened its political positioning and stressed that the party’s current fixation remained on the issue of Imran Khan’s release.
