No decision yet on opposition leader change issue: Siraj

CHAKDARA: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Senator Sirajul Haq said on Friday they had not decided whether or not to support Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in its bid to change the opposition leader in the National Assembly.

Talking to reporters after offering condolences to the family of former lawmaker Hashim Khan in Ouch in Lower Dir, he said that the opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah had contacted and sought their support on the issue. “The JI will decide whatever was best for the country and the people,” he added.

Responding to a question about the PTI contact and agreement with Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to remove the present opposition leader, Sirajul Haq said that it was PTI’s own decision and they had nothing to do with it. About a question regarding the proposed Education Act, he said that the JI welcomed positive changes but would resist any wrong move. 

Questioning the justice system, he said that influential people secured bails from courts in days while poor languished in jails.He said that criminals were roaming free while the aggrieved were forced to run from pillar to post to get justice and give up after fighting for justice for years in courts.

The JI chief said that social evils like usury and other crimes were on the rise in society due to weak justice system. He said that corruption was the root cause of all evils, adding that corruption was rampant and the menace was spreading by the day.

Sirajul Haq said that holding a person in the Panama Papers case was not enough and others named in the leaks should also be held accountable. He demanded review of the country’s foreign policy and forming a new one that protected country’s interest.