Nation would not tolerate delay in general elections, rejecting signals by some leaders of the unity govt: Sirajul Haq

LAHORE, Dec 03, (SABAH): Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Emir Sirajul Haq has said the nation would not tolerate delay in general elections, rejecting signals by some leaders of the unity government.

Elections should be free and fair, Sirajul Haq said while addressing lawyers’ convention at Lahore High Court on Saturday, highlighting the need of new social contract among the political parties on civilian supremacy and electoral reforms before the general elections. Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, eminent lawyer Hamid Khan, Justice (retd) Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, Supreme Court Bar Association President Abid Shahid Zuberi, Islamic Lawyers Movement President Taufique Asif also spoke on occasion. 

Sirajul Haq held the PDM, the PPP and the PTI responsible to the prevailing political and economic instability. The troika, he added, kept the status quo intact, and being the representative of two percent elite, they blocked the common man’s passage to the parliament. In today’s Pakistan, he said, feudal lords represent farmer, capitalists are the flag bearers of the rights of laborers and cruel talk about the oppressed. The political parties who were alien to the concept of intra-party elections gave lesson of democracy to the nation, he regretted. The JI chief demanded the ECP declare ineligible those political parties from taking part in the elections who avoid transparent intra-party polls under the supervision of the Election Commission. He said Pakistan would never move forward without establishing rule of law and true democracy. Judiciary, election commission and establishment must stay neutral, he said.

To get rid of the economic instability, Sirajul Haq said, the government should enforce the Federal Shariat Court decision on riba free economy in letter and spirit. The corruption was the biggest hurdle in development and bad governance was the root cause of problems, said the JI emir. He reiterated the demand to end the prime minister privilege to appoint the chief of army staff, saying the head of the armed forces should be appointed on the pattern of the chief justice of Pakistan on the basis of seniority and merit.

Sirajul Haq said the decades-long exercise of so-called democratic rule and dictatorship failed to deliver as Pakistan now needed Islamic system. He said the tested parties were not the solution to the problems.The country, he said, needed able and honest leadership. If voted to power, he said, the JI would bring real change.