LAHORE, Oct 4: Time is running out for the government to resolve the deepening economic crisis and restore law and order in the country, says Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Naib Amir Liaquat Baloch.

Speaking at a press conference at Lahore Press Club on Saturday in connection with the three-day All-Pakistan ‘Ijtima’ opening at Minar-i-Pakistan on Oct 24 under the aegis of JI, Baloch said the government performance after the Feb 18 election ‘disappointed’ the nation.

He said the rulers were continuing the policies of the dictatorial regime and the role of the parliament had not been defined. The government had failed to annul the 17th Amendment and former president Pervez Musharraf’s unconstitutional steps of Nov 3.

The JI leader said President Asif Ali Zardari did not consult the nation and its representative institutions and surrendered to the US, which wanted to take control of the nuclear weapons and make the Pakistani government subservient to it. He said President Zardari had yet to give the nation the ‘good news’ he promised at the time when took charge of his office. He said continuation of the present policies and the military operation in tribal areas could result in a debacle. Baloch said JI had decided to inform people about the threats to the national integrity and solidarity through its mass contact campaign, which would begin with a train march on Oct 7 and reach Karachi on Oct 15 via Sargodha (Oct 10), Faisalabad (Oct 11) and Islamabad (Oct 12).

Separately, JI Secretary General Syed Munawwar Hasan called upon the government to find a viable solution to the unrest in tribal areas through the parliament.

Condemning the killing of more than 20 civilians in a missile attack in the Muhammadkhel area of North Waziristan in a statement issued here on Saturday, he said the US was using the war against terrorism to destroy Pakistan. There was a marked increase in US attacks on tribal areas after formation of the new government. Pakistani forces were also bombarding their territory instead of repulsing foreign attacks, he said.