The alliance between the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Sami (JUI-S) and the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) might be on its last legs, if the noise coming from the former camp is anything to go by.
JUI-S insiders claim that in the party’s next central committee meeting, the alliance with the PTI would be reviewed, with the senior leadership, including chief Sami-ul-Haq himself, unhappy with the “lack of results”.
The roots of the alliance go back to June 2016, when the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government gave a Rs300 million grant to JUI-S affiliated madrassa Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania. Another Rs270 million grant was approved in February along with cooperation over Senate elections in February.
Party sources say that Sami-ul-Haq has been receiving “mixed signals” from PTI chief Imran Khan, and hence feels that he can no longer rely on the alliance. JUI-S insiders say that the PTI’s refusal to give their chief the ticket for the Senate election not only “breached the mutual understanding” between the parties, it also resulted in the eventual defeat for Sami-ul-Haq in the elections earlier this month.
The first signs of ruptures had threatened to emerge ahead of the Senate elections after the PTI had put forward Faisal Javed Khan, Azam Swati, Dr Mehar Taj Roghani, Khayal Zaman, Fida Hussain and Ayub Afridi, omitting Sami-ul-Haq.
“The PTI insisted that they would give Maulana Sami-ul-Haq the ticket. That was the very foundation of our alliance with the party,” says JUI-S spokesman Yousaf Shah. “Our central committee will be putting [the future of the alliance with PTI] on its agenda soon, and we’ll discuss the situation in detail. We are hoping to come to a conclusion.”
However, the PTI leadership maintains that they had never promised a Senate ticket to Sami-ul-Haq and had only vowed support. “Perhaps Maulana Sami-ul-Haq has misunderstood the grant for Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania or our political support for him,” a senior PTI leader says. “We never promised the party ticket to Maulana Sami and have fulfilled all our promises. The future course of action that we envision with the JUI-S is transparent and in front of them as well.”
PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry says that the party isn’t looking for national-level alliances, implying that the JUI-S misunderstood the terms. “There are local adjustments, which will depend on the situation in any given area and the ideas of our leaders there,” says Chaudhry. “That is what we have discussed with the JUI-S and will look into in the future as well.”
However, the two parties might still have a future given that the JUI-S hasn’t joined the reincarnated Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the five-party alliance spearheaded by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).
With JI’s Liaquat Baloch announced as the secretary-general and JUI-F chief Fazl-ur-Rehman as the president, it doesn’t look like the MMA is eying the return of the JUI-S. The JI and JUI-F leadership maintains that the JUI-S reluctance to join the MMA is because of its alliance with the PTI, which is a mainstream party.
“Despite the fact that the alliance with the PTI hasn’t done them any good, it looks like the JUI-S will continue to stick to them instead of joining us,” says JUI-F’s Amjad Khan. “I mean they haven’t shared any issues they might have with us, and have been a part of the MMA build-up meetings. So the only thing that’s pulling them back would be the fact that they don’t want to let go of PTI.”
However, the JUI-S leadership rubbishes the claim. “No, this has nothing to do with the PTI alliance; we haven’t wanted to join the MMA from the get-go,” says JUI-S General Secretary Abdur Rauf Farooqi. “Our previous experience with the MMA is bitter. They have let us down; they have refused to fulfill their commitments. We don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
Farooqi concedes that the party is reviewing its “understanding” with the PTI, but says that the JUI-S vision “isn’t limited to who it does and doesn’t politically ally with”.
“Let me make this clear that our ambitions aren’t so low as to make these issues the centre of our policymaking. We have a long list of very high goals that we are actively pursuing,” he says. “We want to establish khilafat in Pakistan, and anyone who has the same goals is our ally, and those who do not want that can never be our allies.”
Even so, the noise within the JUI-S camp is that the party might go solo for the large part and will call off any formal alliances, leaving room for local adjustments where needed.
“I don’t think they’ll call [the alliance] off,” believes Fawad Chaudhary. “[KP Chief Minister] Pervez Khattak is looking after the matter in Nowshera. He’ll manage this easily, without any issues.”
JUI-S insiders claim that in the party’s next central committee meeting, the alliance with the PTI would be reviewed, with the senior leadership, including chief Sami-ul-Haq himself, unhappy with the “lack of results”.
The roots of the alliance go back to June 2016, when the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government gave a Rs300 million grant to JUI-S affiliated madrassa Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania. Another Rs270 million grant was approved in February along with cooperation over Senate elections in February.
Party sources say that Sami-ul-Haq has been receiving “mixed signals” from PTI chief Imran Khan, and hence feels that he can no longer rely on the alliance. JUI-S insiders say that the PTI’s refusal to give their chief the ticket for the Senate election not only “breached the mutual understanding” between the parties, it also resulted in the eventual defeat for Sami-ul-Haq in the elections earlier this month.
The first signs of ruptures had threatened to emerge ahead of the Senate elections after the PTI had put forward Faisal Javed Khan, Azam Swati, Dr Mehar Taj Roghani, Khayal Zaman, Fida Hussain and Ayub Afridi, omitting Sami-ul-Haq.
“The PTI insisted that they would give Maulana Sami-ul-Haq the ticket. That was the very foundation of our alliance with the party,” says JUI-S spokesman Yousaf Shah. “Our central committee will be putting [the future of the alliance with PTI] on its agenda soon, and we’ll discuss the situation in detail. We are hoping to come to a conclusion.”
However, the PTI leadership maintains that they had never promised a Senate ticket to Sami-ul-Haq and had only vowed support. “Perhaps Maulana Sami-ul-Haq has misunderstood the grant for Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania or our political support for him,” a senior PTI leader says. “We never promised the party ticket to Maulana Sami and have fulfilled all our promises. The future course of action that we envision with the JUI-S is transparent and in front of them as well.”
The roots of the alliance go back to June 2016, when the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government gave a Rs300 million grant to JUI-S affiliated madrassa Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania. Another Rs270 million grant was approved in February along with cooperation over Senate elections in February
PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry says that the party isn’t looking for national-level alliances, implying that the JUI-S misunderstood the terms. “There are local adjustments, which will depend on the situation in any given area and the ideas of our leaders there,” says Chaudhry. “That is what we have discussed with the JUI-S and will look into in the future as well.”
However, the two parties might still have a future given that the JUI-S hasn’t joined the reincarnated Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the five-party alliance spearheaded by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).
With JI’s Liaquat Baloch announced as the secretary-general and JUI-F chief Fazl-ur-Rehman as the president, it doesn’t look like the MMA is eying the return of the JUI-S. The JI and JUI-F leadership maintains that the JUI-S reluctance to join the MMA is because of its alliance with the PTI, which is a mainstream party.
“Despite the fact that the alliance with the PTI hasn’t done them any good, it looks like the JUI-S will continue to stick to them instead of joining us,” says JUI-F’s Amjad Khan. “I mean they haven’t shared any issues they might have with us, and have been a part of the MMA build-up meetings. So the only thing that’s pulling them back would be the fact that they don’t want to let go of PTI.”
However, the JUI-S leadership rubbishes the claim. “No, this has nothing to do with the PTI alliance; we haven’t wanted to join the MMA from the get-go,” says JUI-S General Secretary Abdur Rauf Farooqi. “Our previous experience with the MMA is bitter. They have let us down; they have refused to fulfill their commitments. We don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
Farooqi concedes that the party is reviewing its “understanding” with the PTI, but says that the JUI-S vision “isn’t limited to who it does and doesn’t politically ally with”.
“Let me make this clear that our ambitions aren’t so low as to make these issues the centre of our policymaking. We have a long list of very high goals that we are actively pursuing,” he says. “We want to establish khilafat in Pakistan, and anyone who has the same goals is our ally, and those who do not want that can never be our allies.”
Even so, the noise within the JUI-S camp is that the party might go solo for the large part and will call off any formal alliances, leaving room for local adjustments where needed.
“I don’t think they’ll call [the alliance] off,” believes Fawad Chaudhary. “[KP Chief Minister] Pervez Khattak is looking after the matter in Nowshera. He’ll manage this easily, without any issues.”