HYDERABAD, July 25: Tehrik-i-Istaqlal president Rehmat Khan Wardag has said that it is Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s responsibility to ensure the success of the parliamentary system in the country.

Speaking at a news conference at the Kotri press club on Thursday, he expressed hope that all contentious issues would be resolved in the scheduled meeting of July 27 between the prime minister and the leaders of the opposition.

He alleged that the senior adviser to the prime minister, Sharifuddin Pirzada has always harmed the interests of the country.

He said whatever Mr Pirzada had said about Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah was incorrect. He wondered, why he had kept this matter a guarded secret for so long?

Mr Wardag said the country needed a leader of the high calibre of former Russian ruler Boris Yeltsin who could take bold decisions for the development of the country and the prosperity of the nation at this crucial juncture.

He said the people were fast losing faith in the judicial system and added that if they were denied justice from the courts of law, they had nowhere else to go.

The TI president said the 1991 water accord should be given publicity to inform the younger generation about the true facts. Replying to a question about the local bodies system, the chief of Tehrik-i-Istaqlal said the bureaucracy had sabotaged this system.

He said if the government was unable to enforce the district government system in toto then it should abolish it. He favoured open trade relations with India instead of European countries.

He called upon the government to take practical steps for reactivating more than 4000 industrial units which were lying closed. He said these units should be handed over to genuine entrepreneurs to eliminate unemployment from the country.

He demanded that growers should be exempted from the payment of all taxes due to the destruction of crops in the wake of heavy rains.