LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq on Friday renewed his call for early elections, asking the prime minister to ensure the polls as soon as possible instead of focusing on executions of projects.

Addressing a press conference at his party headquarters, he said it was the responsibility of the new government to introduce electoral consensus reforms, agreed upon by all political parties before the next general elections.

Mr Haq welcomed the ISPR statement about the impossibility of martial law, saying it ended many doubts and confusion. The institutions, including the judiciary, military and Election Commission of Pakistan, must keep their neutrality in the benefit of the country. “If the establishment interferes in politics, its role would inevitably be discussed among political workers and criticism becomes a natural part of the discussion,” he said.

The JI chief demanded that the government review agreements with the IMF, bring down prices of food items and petrol and decrease the electricity and gas tariff. The old status of the State Bank of Pakistan must be restored, he said.

He called for the implementation of the JI-PPP agreement on Karachi reforms and the Sindh local government. He said the new government should address the concerns of the people of Gwadar and other areas of Balochistan.

The government, he said, should recognize the Afghan government and take a bold stance on the Kashmir issue.

He replied the Supreme Court of Pakistan should form a judicial commission to probe into ‘lettergate’. He said the JI believed the US interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs was an open secret yet it did not see any reason why Washington wanted to change the PTI regime? The US establishment, he said, was rather comfortable with Imran Khan’s government which met all demands of the international lending agencies working with the backing of America, facilitated NATO forces, never recognized the Afghanistan government on the US pressure and never agitated the Kashmir cause.

He said the JI believed the three ruling parties (the PML-N, the PPP and the PTI) could never make a stand against US dictations. They have swapped roles, programmes and colours of their flag, but not the characteristics of their governance. The people, he said, tested the three parties for years. The nation, he added, received back no benefit from the feudal and imperialists after bringing them into power time and again. It is time to put faith in the Jamaat-e-Islami. It is the only party, that neither has NAB cases against its leader nor they got any bank loans written off.

“The JI is not going to get into any political alliance with these tested parties. “We will go into the elections under our own flag, manifesto and election symbol.”

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2022