ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-i-Islami Secretary General Liaquat Baloch has ruled out the possibility of mid-term elections in the country in near future.

“As a matter of fact there is no provision of mid-term elections in the Constitution,” Mr Baloch said while talking to journalists here.

Jamaat-i-Islami believes in democracy and will continue to support all efforts to strengthen democratic institutions in the country, he said.

Mr Baloch said the JI would hold a massive public meeting in Karachi on Dec 25 and with that a mass contact campaign would be launched.

“We will announce the future course of action of the party at the rally.”

He said the JI had decided to pay special attention to the issues and problems being faced by farmers in the country. He regretted that major political parties ignored the plight of rural population.

“Nobody talks about the risks and exploitation attached to the farming sector; we will focus on improving the condition of those dependent on agriculture,” he added.

Mr Baloch said the JI was in contact with Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl for an alliance in the next elections in Gilgit-Baltistan.

“The local chapter of PML-N has already approached us in this regard,” he added.

Answering a question about the fate of talks between the PML-N government and the protesting Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, the JI leader said flexibility was needed to make the process successful. If both sides failed to show flexibility there would not be any chance of success in talks, he added.

Published in Dawn December 14th , 2014