Advisor to Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah has dismissed the prospect of a successful opposition alliance involving Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), saying that the party lacks the willingness to engage in political dialogue with other parties.
Sanaullah was responding to questions about Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s efforts to form a political alliance.
“As long as PTI is present, no alliance can be formed,” Sanaullah said, arguing that cooperation with other political parties and resolving political disputes through talks were not part of PTI’s approach.
“They don’t have it in them,” he said, referring to the party’s ability to engage with other political forces.
Sanaullah also rejected suggestions that PTI’s legal challenges in court could create difficulties for the government.
He said that the party had committed a “major violation” of Supreme Court orders over the issue and therefore had no justification for its position.
The adviser defended the government’s position by referring to security concerns, crowd-control measures outside Islamabad International Airport and evidence available to support its actions.
He said that the government was prepared to establish that circumstances existed that could have resulted in a security issue, while arguing that PTI had “No justification whatsoever” for the press conference it held.
He maintained that any alliance will remain ineffective as long as PTI continued with what he described as its current political mindset.
“It cannot create any difficulties at all. My point is that as long as PTI exists in its current mindset, an opposition alliance cannot succeed,” he said.
