ECP verdict exposed PTI’s so-called ‘clean party’ narrative: Sirajul Haq

QUETTA, August 02 (SABAH): Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Sirajul Haq has said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) verdict exposed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s so-called “clean party” narrative.

The JI, Sirajul Haq said, while talking to reporters in Quetta Press Club on Tuesday, already made it clear the PTI, the PML-N and the PPP were the sides of the same coin. He said the foreign funding case against the former ruling party was an open and shut case. It was beyond understanding why the decision was delayed for long eight years. Had the verdict come before 2018, the PTI could have stayed out of power, he added. “The point I understand that the political parties are not held accountable while in power.”

Sirajul Haq expressed grief over the martyrs of the army officers and jawans in helicopter crash incident in Balochistan and declared it as a national tragedy. Praying for the deceased, he shared condolence with grieved families. He also expressed grief over the loss of human lives and property in the flood hit areas and appealed to the people to donate generously in relief activities by the volunteers of the JI and al-Khidmat Foundation. The JI chief rejected the government decision to put on sale the national institutions and entities, announcing to challenge the recent amendments in privatization laws. The government, he said, was bent upon selling the national assets on throwaway prices on the pressure of the IMF. Instead of handing over the national assets to foreign companies and private individuals, the rulers must bring back their own wealth from the shell companies and foreign bank accounts in the best interest of the nation, he demanded.

This government, Sirajul Haq said, even lacked mandate to make such steps. The rulers, he added, always made decisions without taking on board the masses. The decisions about the fate of Pakistan were being made behind the closed doors, he said. The ruling parties, he said, destroyed the economy and virtually handed over the country to the global lenders. They, he added, were still engaged in the power play, abandoning even the people in flood devastated areas.

To a question, he replied the JI wanted electoral reforms before the elections. The polls, he said, were contested in the country on the basis of wealth. The JI wanted election under the principle of proportional representation, he said. He condemned the US drone attack on Afghan soil and called it foreign interference into sovereign nation. He hoped Pakistani soil was not used to carry out drone attack in Afghanistan. He said Pakistan had clearly announced its policy for not allowing use of its land and air against Afghanistan, believing the government was stick to its stance.