HARIPUR/SWABI: Jamaat-i-Islami central emir Sirajul Haq on Friday said the PML-N, PPP and PTI governments as well as military dictators were responsible for the country’s political, economic and governance crises.

“The PML-N, PPP and PTI as well as the military generals who ruled the country in the last 76 year are responsible for all our problems. They destroyed the economy, introduced dynastic politics, and bad governance,” Mr Siraj told a public meeting in Haripur.

He complained about people’s poor access to healthcare, high inflation and massive joblessness in the country as well as financial crisis in PIA and Pakistan Railways and blamed them on the past governments of the three mainstream political parties and military dictators.

The JI chief said the return of the PML-N, PTI or PPP to power meant the country’s “destruction” as their top leaders were interested in the prosperous future of their children and not people’s.

“They [former ruling parties] are urging the people yet again to vote them to power because they want their wealth to increase,” he said.

Mr Siraj also alleged that former rulers gave away the occupied Kashmir to India, handed over Pakistani citizen Dr Aafia Siddiqui to the United States, freed Central Intelligence Agency contractor Raymond Davis, who killed Pakistanis, and didn’t protest the genocide of Palestinians, fearing America’s backlash.

He claimed that the PTI, PML-N as well as PPP formally offered JI seat adjustment for the Feb 8 elections but he declined the offer and decided that the party would contest polls on its own.

“We [Jamaat] have our own ideology, have no desire for wealth or power, and are striving for the introduction of Islamic system of governance in the country,” he said.

He said after coming to power, his party would do away with “VIP culture”, reform police and bureaucracy, and introduce an interest-free economy.

Mr Siraj criticised the district administration for denying the party an open space to hold the public meeting and said workers should besiege the offices of the local bureaucracyif the act was repeated.

The JI also addressed an election rally in Swabi in the day and said an honest leadership was required to strengthen the economy and address other national issues.

He said the former rulers, instead of ensuring good governance in the country, focused their attention on serving personal interest instead of working for the people’s development and therefore, all national institutions suffered.

Mr Siraj said only honest and committed leadership could ensure the country’s prosperity.

He said the country was caught in a debt trap and suffered from the worst economic situation in its history due to the wrong policies of the successive governments.

The JI chief also complained that 1.8 million cases were pending with the courts and the backlog was increasing fast.

He called for the speedy disposal of cases to the relief of the people.

Mr Siraj said the PPP, PTI and PML-N’s top leaders were “involved” in corruption, so the people shouldn’t vote for those parties.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2024