LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) emir Sirajul Haq says that Nawaz Sharif’s remarks on the Supreme Court verdict are unbecoming of his stature and his attempt to degrade the judiciary can pose a serious threat to the country’s future.

He was talking to the media at the mausoleum of Allama Iqbal after offering prayers on Thursday.

Mr Haq said self-seeking politicians had always harmed the Constitution and democracy and a clash with the judiciary was not in the interest of the present government itself and it would be responsible for the consequences. He said that Nawaz Sharif’s derogatory remarks about the country’s courts were below his status as a party leader, wondering what message Mr Sharif was giving to the masses.

Answering a question about electoral reforms, the JI chief said the PML-N enjoyed a majority in the National Assembly but on the day the government presented the bill on electoral reforms, there were hardly 15 Treasury members present in the house.

He said the government itself was not interested in the delimitation of constituencies and it had made no effort to develop a consensus in this regard. He said if the political parties had differences on this issue it was the government job to bring around them and resolve the issue.

Sirajul Haq said the government’s attitude showed that it did not want elections on time though on-time elections was a demand of the nation.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2017