Govt has made full surrender before the IMF: Sirajul Haq

LAHORE, August 16 (SABAH): Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Sirajul Haq has said the government has made full surrender before the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Addressing a training workshop for the JI workers at Mansoorah on Tuesday, Sirajul Haq said the public welfare was never on agenda of the government. The rulers, he added, had always made efforts to keep their masters happy. The US and the international lending agencies, he added, forced decisions on Islamabad.

The latest hike in the petroleum prices was result of the conditions put by the IMF for fresh installment, he said, rejecting the rise. The JI chief said the political parties who held long marches against the former PTI government on the issue of price increase of basic commodities were not even feeling any embarrassment on breaking all the records of inflation in three and half months. If the PTI created disaster in three and half year, the current government of more than 13 political parties completed the agenda of the former ruling party in months. He questioned the increase in the hike of petroleum products when their prices were going down in international market.

Sirajul Haq expressed concern over the lack of interests by the federal and provincial governments in addressing the problems of the people in flood hit areas. He said the departments responsible for providing relief to masses during emergency situations and natural calamities were least prepared for it, having both shortages of resources and willpower. Corruption, bad-governance, he added, were the main issues facing the country since long. The current and previous governments, he said, were equally responsible for present situation of the country. He said at a time when thousands of people were waiting for relief, the ruling parties were engaged in the fight of self-interest, abandoning the masses.

Sirajul Haq said there was dire need to get rid of the feudal lords and mafias to put the country on track. The people, he said, must rejected the tested parties and chose the JI for their service.