Politicians seeking support of establishment: Siraj

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Sirajul Haq has reiterated that the incumbent and former ruling political parties utterly failed to promote democratic traditions in the society, and they are still desperate for the establishment’s support to come to power.

The country could not move forward without empowering the masses to elect their representatives fairly, he said while talking to media at Mansoorah on Monday. He congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his victory in Turkey’s presidential election, saying the Turkish president is a powerful voice of Islam and always spoke for the rights of the people of IIOJ&K. He hoped relations between Turkey and Pakistan would further strengthen in the future.

Siraj said August 14, 2023 was the most suitable day for the national poll. The JI, he added, had initiated efforts to develop consensus among political parties on the election date, and it was still trying to bring all of them to the table for dialogue.

The JI always discouraged victimization of innocent political workers and their trial in military courts. It also condemned May 9 incidents and considered them an attack on the state. He said the fight between the PDM and the PTI was for the protection of self-interests, leading to the prevailing economic, political and constitutional crises. The inflation and unemployment are the result of flawed economic policies of their governments as they always relied upon debt-servicing instead of devising plans for self-reliance and discouraging corruption by introducing good governance.

He said the common man paid taxes of more than two dozen types. If the state introduces Zakat and Ushar system, more than 70 million people will be ready to pay taxes under the Islamic system. For this, he said, the government had to win the trust of the public in a sense that their money would not go into the hands of corrupt people. The JI, he added, was the only party which could make it possible and put the country on track.