Claimants of democracy have weakened LG system: Siraj

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Sirajul Haq has said those claiming to be champions of democracy have always weakened the local governments' system to pursue vested interests.

The ruling aristocracy never wants to transfer the power to the grass-root level to prevent sharing its bounty with the masses, he said while addressing a meeting of workers and party office-bearers at Mansoora on Tuesday.

The PTI and the two former ruling parties, he alleged, never wanted to devolve actual power at lower levels despite claiming to be the biggest champions of democracy in the country and both democratic and dictatorial rulers kept sacrificing the local bodies to their impractical experimentations for vested interests. He alleged that the government had committed the biggest fraud with the masses in three and half years rule by systematic destruction of democratic institutions. He said the three parties were clubs of feudal lords and capitalists and protectors of status quo.

Sirajul Haq said that the LG polls should be held in a transparent way without any interference. The LG polls, he said, should be held on time and as per schedule like the general elections.

He said the presence of powerful LG system was the main source of development which is seen in the western countries. He said that the JI would make full participation in the LG elections, directing the party leaders and workers to make preparations for it. He said the JI was the only option left with the masses and it would put the country on track if voted to power.