HYDERABAD, Dec 15: The central secretary general of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Syed Munawar Hassan claimed on Saturday that an overwhelming majority of people was in favour of election boycott hence lack of enthusiasm in electioneering.

Mr Hassan said at a news conference at the press club it would be meaningless if the emergency was lifted now after some cosmetic changes because its purpose had already been achieved.

He said that the All-Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) would not give up its struggle before or after the elections until and unless the sacked judges of superior judiciary were restored to pre-Nov 3 position and curbs on media were lifted.

He said that the country had still not come out of the crisis set in motion with the removal of Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhry on March 9. He said the action against chief justice had created an awakening not only among the lawyers but also in the civil society as well as the judiciary but the imposition of emergency and the Provisional Constitution Order had come like a bolt from the blue.

He said that the real fight was between the forces who believed in the independence of judiciary and media and supremacy of the constitution and those who were taking dictation from America.

A meeting chaired by Mian Nawaz Sharif had reiterated resolve to boycott elections if the pre-Nov 3 situation was not restored but then Mian Saheb failed to keep his word under internal and external pressure.

He claimed that the APDM was very much intact under the leadership of Mehmood Khan Achakzai and the movement would continue its campaign for the restoration of judges and withdrawal of curbs on media.

The JI leader believed that he had not even an iota of doubt that the elections would be rigged under a pre-planned arrangement made by the establishment.

To a question about Maulana Fazalur Rehman’s decision to participate in the elections, Mr Hassan said that the meeting of MMA’s Supreme Council, which was attended by all the six heads of component parties, had announced boycott of elections.