Major opposition parties always supported govt: JI chief

KARACHI: The Jamaat-e-Islami central chief, Sirajul Haq, on Sunday said that major political parties in the opposition had always supported the federal government in crucial times and, therefore, the party had decided to stay away from the opposition parties’ All Parties Conference (APC).

He was addressing a press conference at Idara-e-Noor Haq, the party’s Karachi Secretariat, along with the party's Karachi leaders Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, Dr Osama Razi, Abdul Wahab, Abdul Razzaq Khan, and Zahid Askari.

Haq said the JI is the party that is playing the role of genuine opposition party in the parliament and on the street. “The ideology and agenda of opposition are varied but government policies and wrongdoings have brought the opposition parties as one,” he said.

Holding the Pakistan People’s Party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan responsible for the destruction of Karachi, Haq said the parties ruling the Sindh province did not do anything for the city's development.

Asking residents to join the party’s planned march on September 27, the JI chief said that the rally is meant for bringing out the city from current injustices and deprivation and to strive together for a better and developed Karachi.

“The PPP’s provincial government has completely failed in resolving the problem of Karachi while the PTI’s federal government has also done nothing for the development of the city during its two-year rule,” Haq said. “As part of the coalition government in the Centre, the MQM-P supports every decision of the federal government but also is now protesting against the government.”

He said the population census of Karachi should be revisited in order to ascertain the city’s actual population. “What happened with announced Karachi relief packages, Rs1,100 billion and earlier announced Rs 162 billion,” he questioned.

On the government’s socio-economic policies, he said that prices of daily essential commodities and petroleum products had reached their peak and were not within the reach of masses, and as a result poor have become poorer.

“The country’s exports have plunged to 25 percent while rupee depreciated to the dollar during the government’s 870 days rule,” he deplored. The country has been mortgaged under dictation and pressure of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and Financial Action Task Force, the JI chief said. He said the government failed in resolving issues of the masses and its performance could only be seen on papers and yet the government did not materialise the promises it made before coming into power.

Commenting on the National Accountability Bureau, Haq said the institution was violating its ambit and the Supreme Court has already declared it. The parliamentary atmosphere has lost its decorum and using ill-natured language has become routine during sessions, he said. He also emphasized dialogue for restructuring the Election Commission before conducting elections in a transparent manner. On recent incidents involving women, he said such tragedies are an eye-opener for the government and there is no ground left for the government to remain in power.