LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) emir Sirajul Haq adds his voice to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s demand for new polls, saying fresh elections are the only way forward to pull the country out of political and economic crises it is in.

Mr Haq was presiding over a meeting of the party’s central leadership at Mansoorah here on Wednesday.

He, however, said that electoral reforms with the consensus of all political parties should be introduced before the polls, as without reforms, he added, the election would be a futile exercise and would add to the ongoing uncertainty.

“I am afraid many political parties will reject the outcome of polls without reforms.”

The political parties, he said, should hold constructive dialogue on the agenda of establishing the rule of law, ending the role of the establishment in politics, and introducing election reforms.

Now that the military establishment has promised to the nation of staying neutral in politics, the prime responsibility of the political leadership is to develop a strong mechanism for it, he said.

The political parties, he said, should sit together to strengthen the Election Commission, making the electoral watchdog economically and administratively strong and independent.

The masses, he said, have lost faith in the electoral process as there has been a history of poll rigging and manipulating the polling process.

“It’s a duty of the political leadership to restore the people’s trust in the polling system,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2022