Siraj for linking IMF loan to parliament’s approval

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq, has demanded an agreement with the IMF should be conditional with the parliament’s approval and the parliament should be taken into confidence on talks with it.

Speaking at an Iftar dinner hosted in his honour by JI group leader for NA. 128, Ch, Manzur Husain Gujjar on Sunday, Sirajul Haq said that the IMF’s strategy was to grab the resources of the countries without going to war. He said if an agreement was reached on the IMF terms, Pakistan would have to hand over all its national institutions to the Fund after two years.

The JI chief said the conflict between the US and Iran in the Arabia Sea would be disastrous for the entire region. He said that wars resulted in hunger and poverty on a large scale while the arms factories continued rolling out arms and ammunition. He said the US was deliberately thrusting a war on Iran while Pakistan had cancelled its agreements with the country under pressure which was the worst example of US slavery.

Sirajul Haq said that the only way out of the current economic crisis was to abandon the interest based economy and loans. He said that the state of Madina and interest based economy were contradictions and could not go together. The JI chief said that the rulers were admitting that there was a price spiral but were not prepared to take any remedial steps. He said that poor people were unable to arrange simple Iftar and Sehri. He said the government had announced substantial subsidy on Utility Stores but the stores were empty.