Incumbent & former ruling political parties have failed to promote democratic traditions in the society: Sirajul Haq

LAHORE, May 29 (SABAH): Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Sirajul Haq has said that the incumbent and the former ruling political parties have failed to promote the democratic traditions in the society, and they are still desperate for the establishment’s support.

The country could not move forward without empowering the masses to elect their representatives freely and fairly, Sirajul Haq said while talking to the members of different social media channels at Mansoorah on Monday.

Sirajul Haq congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his victory in Turkey’s presidential election, saying the Turkish president is a powerful voice of Islam who always spoke for the rights of the people of Kashmir. He hoped the relations between Turkey and Pakistan would further strengthen in future.

The JI chief said August 14, 2023, is most suitable day for the national poll. The JI, he added, had initiated efforts to develop consensus among the political parties on the election date, and it was still trying to bring all of them to the table for dialogue. He reiterated the JI had always discouraged the victimization of innocent political workers and their trial in the military courts. He added that it also strongly condemned May 9 incidents and considered them an attack on the state.

Sirajul Haq said the fight between the PDM and the PTI was for the protection of self-interests, leading to the prevailing economic, political and constitutional crises. The inflation and unemployment, he added, were the result of the flawed economic policies of their governments as they always relied upon the debt-servicing instead of devising plans of self-reliance and discouraging corruption by introducing good governance. He said the common man pays taxes of more than two dozen types.

Sirajul Haq said if the state introduced Zakat and Ushar system, more than 70 million people would be ready to pay taxes under the Islamic system. For this, he said, the government had to win the trust of the public in a sense that their money would not go into the hands of corrupt people. The JI, he added, was the only party which could make it possible and put the country on track.