LAHORE: The recent elections have put the nation in a great test as they turned out be the most rigged exercise in the country, said Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Senator Sirajul Haq on Saturday.

Speaking at Mansoora, he alleged that the July 25 elections were the most controversial in the country’s history. The opposition was protesting and the confidence of the people in the exercise had been shaken as the Election Commission of Pakistan failed to hold fair and free elections even after spending Rs20 billion.

“In order to avert the 1977-like situation, the JI urged the opposition parties to join the assemblies and the MPC approved the idea and the country was saved from a constitutional crisis,” he said.

The JI would continue to play its role for the continuity of the democratic system. The JI, he said, had always promoted democratic traditions and struggled against dictatorship, whether civilian or military. He said Pakistan had come into being through a great people’s movement and the masses alone had the right to rule the country.

“The JI will wait and see whether the PTI fulfills its promises or goes back on its manifesto like the PPP and the PML-N. The nation expected Imran Khan to follow his programme of converting Pakistan into a welfare state on the pattern of the state of Medina, providing jobs to the youth, liberating Kashmir and freeing the country from the IMF hold by achieving economic self reliance.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2018