JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that there was no alliance between his party and old nemesis the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

“This is not the first time PTI people came. They have come before as well. We have always given them respect,” Fazl said in an interview with Saleem Safi of Geo News on his show Jirga.

The question was asked against the backdrop of a meeting between a delegation of PTI and the JUI-F chief last week. According to the parties, they reached an agreement that February 8’s elections were rigged and could only lead to instability.

The PTI delegation was led by Asad Qaiser and included Barrister Saif, Amir Dogar and Fazal Khan.

In the interview, Fazl said that a “culture” had developed where meetings between two sides were termed an “alliance”. He explained that in Pashtun culture, one does not turn away guests, and politicians never close the door of dialogue.

The religio-political leader reiterated that his party had reservations about the election results in the country. “In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, we have reservations concerning the PTI,” he said.

While speaking about the difference between the two parties, Fazl described them as “mountains” and said that they were not easy to overcome.

“But if them coming and talking to us, creates an environment where talks take place, and after those talks we go towards solving problems; we are political people and a political person never says no to talks,” he said.

On polls, he asked: “How can we accept such an election from which so many anomalies have arisen?”