PTI open to an alliance with Fazlur Rehman's JUI-F against the government, Salman Akram Raja says

PTI has signalled it is open to an alliance with Maulana Fazlur Rehman's JUI-F against the federal government, with secretary general Salman Akram Raja saying the party would welcome anyone who stands with it, Dawn reported on Tuesday. No alliance has been announced.

What Raja said

Nobody was calling the JUI-F chief a "saviour", Raja said, but PTI would welcome support: "It is possible that some may walk with us for one mile, some for 10 miles, and some may go with us till the end."

He also said: "We do not depend on anyone, and we do not have expectations from anyone," adding that PTI wants its movement to grow.

Why Fazl and PTI are closer now

• Governor's rule in KP. Fazl has criticised the federal government for imposing governor's rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 11 October. He says the Centre did not honour its commitments while he was mediating between Islamabad and the PTI-led provincial government, and accuses it of taking away provinces' rights.
• Weeks of sharp words. Fazl and senior federal ministers have traded harsh remarks since mid-October.
• A shared opposition agenda. Last week Fazl proposed a new Charter of Democracy, which PTI said it supported (our story).

Gohar: Imran did not welcome governor's rule

PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan rejected reports that Imran Khan was pleased the KP government had been sidelined. "It is not correct," he said. He said lawyer Salman Safdar, who met Imran on Monday, told him Imran already knew of the measures, did not call them positive, and that they did not talk much politics. Gohar also denied reports of a forward bloc in PTI's KP wing and said he hoped tensions would ease.

Jail visits refused again

On Tuesday, one of the two days set for meetings at Adiala jail, PTI lawyer Awais Younas Chaudhry said Imran's nephew Abdullah Khan was not allowed to see him, and Gohar and Raja were also turned away, Dawn reported. Lawyer Salman Safdar had been allowed to meet Imran and Bushra Bibi on Monday about a legal case.

Background

The federal government imposed emergency and governor's rule in KP on 11 October, citing the provincial government's "deliberate disengagement" from the fight against terrorism, after weeks of tension with PTI and its announced long march for Imran's release. A joint sitting of Parliament approved governor's rule. Chief Minister Sohail Afridi's role is suspended while it lasts, and PTI says it still backs him.

For the federal development money the government has announced for the province since then, see the Rs 160 billion KP package.