PROVINCIAL Minister Rana Sanaullah said Jamaat-e-Islami was in a good position right now to facilitate amity between PML-N and PTI which if done won’t be out rightly rejected by PML-N.

He was speaking at the discussion hosted at Jang Forum on the topic, ‘Blame Game-Is there an End’. The guests at the forum were PTI Lahore Region President Mian Mehmood Ur Rasheed, Jamaat-e-Islami Leader Hafiz Suleman Butt and PPP MNA Yasmeen Rahman. The forum was hosted by Aslam Pervez.

Rana Sanaullah said criticizing political rivals was not undemocratic; however, all criticism should be based on facts and figures and not just prejudice and point scoring. He said that political parties should observe restrain instead of going overboard with pointing fingers at each other. This, he said, mostly shut down all possibilities of reconciliation, which by no means was political wisdom.

Referring to the press conference held by Khawaja Asif regarding questionable financial management of Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital, he said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf marketed this hospital as there management success story therefore it was bounty to come under scrutiny.

He commented that if PTI wanted the hospital to be beyond such criticism, they should first leave it alone themselves. He said that sane political parties should commit to two basic principals, working for sustenance and progress of democracy and of accepting the existence of all political forces. He said that only the politically naïve could term PML-N’s role as of friendly opposition.

He pointed out that PTI started a unilateral onslaught of accusations and blamed PML-N leadership to which PML-N was only responding. He reassured that PML-N was all for change but through democratic means and would not allow or support any adventurism.

Jamaat-e-Islami Leader Hafiz Suleman Butt said the culture of capturing rating had lead to moral degeneration of the society as a whole and has caused the blame game. Politicians too have started seeking popularity through the media by pointing fingers at each other without substantive proof.

He proposed that political parties should adopt self regulation in this regard and should abstain from character assassination of their opponents. Terming such exchange of offensive allegations as adverse to political prospects to form coalitions, he advised against them.

PTI Lahore Region President Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed said that PTI was only fulfilling its rightful role as opposition by highlighting the misdoings of PML-N. He said that the concerned expressed by Khawaja Asif in the press conference might have been correct but the manner in which he put forward his case was condemnable. He was of the view that this particular attack on Shaukat Khanum Hospital turned out more counterproductive for PML-N instead of PTI.

PPP MNA Yasmeen Rahman said that the role of media was pivotal in mending this culture of low-blows. She agreed that constructive criticism helped the masses in making an informed decision in the elections but baseless allegations and blames aimed only at maligning the opponent should be avoided.

She pointed out that PPP leadership always kept its composure and did not indulge in such verbal confrontations. She quoted the political composure and wisdom of President Zardari which has been the corner stone of running successful coalition government for dive years for the first time in the history of the country.