Delay in elections not to be tolerated: Siraj

LAHORE : Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Sirajul Haq has warned that nation would not tolerate any delay in general elections, rejecting signals by some leaders of the PDM government.

“Elections must be held on time in free and fair manner to let the masses choose their representatives freely, he said while addressing lawyers’ convention at Lahore High Court here on Saturday. He also stressed the need for new social contract among the political parties on civilian supremacy and electoral reforms before the general elections, saying holding polls under the corrupt, outdated system would be an exercise in futility.

Senator Raza Rabbani, eminent lawyer Hamid Khan, Justice (retd) Shaukat Siddiqui, Supreme Court Bar Association president Abid Zuberi, Islamic Lawyers Movement President Taufique Asif also spoke on occasion.

Siraj held the PDM, PPP and PTI responsible for the prevailing political and economic instability, saying this troika strictly 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 labourers 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.

He 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, he said, the government should enforce the Federal Shariat Court decision banning Riba from economy in letter and spirit. The corruption was the biggest hurdle in development and bad governance was the root cause of problems, he added.

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. He 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.