Fazlur Rehman says alliance with PTI cannot be ruled out
Argues enmities and friendships in politics are never permanent
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that his party has not cut off contacts with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and the possibility of an alliance with it cannot be ruled out, 24NewsHD TV reported on Monday.
Highlighting the flexible nature of politics, Fazlur Rehman disclosed that he recently held a “meaningful meeting” with senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser.
Citing historical precedents, Maulana argued that enmities and friendships in politics are never permanent.
He recalled that all the parties that had united under the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) to remove Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from power in 1977 were, by 1983, working together with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on the platform of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) to end martial law.
Similarly, in recent history, the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), once the worst of political rivals, moved past their bitter differences and joined hands for the restoration of democracy through the Charter of Democracy (COD).
The JUI-F leader described politics as a "science of accommodation," where new alignments are constantly formed based on the demands of time and circumstances.
He stated that old alliances based on past issues break apart, while new ones emerge around fresh agendas.
Expressing a clear desire, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said he wishes for PTI to be brought into the "national mainstream" and to become part of a political culture based on mutual respect, rooted in Eastern traditions, which he termed the primary responsibility of national leadership.
Calling for a unified national agenda, he urged opposition parties to set aside all political disputes and agree on a single-point agenda focused on the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law.
Fazlur Rehman asserted that the country can only find a way to move forward by freeing itself from the existing hybrid system, and expressed a collective desire to pull society out of the quagmire of intolerance, violence, and bigotry to build a normal and healthy society.