LAHORE : Jamaat Islami Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has stressed that all political parties had to sit together for election reforms as the dream to strengthen democracy in the country could not be achieved without fair and free polls.
The ruling and some opposition parties had made tall claims to champion the cause of democracy but they never strengthened the Election Commission to make it a powerful and independent body, he said while addressing workers gathering at Mansoora on Saturday. In fact, he added, the ruling elite would not agree to empower public and they actually deceived the masses in the name of democracy.
Earlier, former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani visited Mansoora to offer condolence with him on the demise of his mother. Prime Minister’s advisor on religious harmony Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi along with a delegation of religious scholars also met Senator Siraj and offered prayed for his late mother.
Addressing the gathering, Sirajul Haq lamented that after the lapse of two and half years, Prime Minister Imran Khan was asking the people to point out the corrupt elements in the society.
He wondered if the prime minister had completely forgotten the fact that his own government had indicated the Sugar, Atta and land mafia, and the people were asking one another if any action had been taken against the accused who plundered billions of rupees out of the pockets of poor masses. He said the agents of imperialistic forces and feudal lords plunged the country into deep economic and governance crises. He said elections were stolen in the country by powerful people using power and wealth, and the establishment also manipulated the polls. The time had reached, he added, to get rid of the status quo forces and transform Pakistan into welfare Islamic state. He regretted that PTI failed to even recognize corrupt elements in government ranks in half of its tenure and the prime minister had now starting asking from the masses to point out corrupt officials. He asked the prime minister to first inform the masses about his government actions against those who created sugar and flour crises and looted the masses with both hands. He said the JI would continue struggle against the anti-public policies of the PTI.
