ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Friday said that any change in the country could only be brought through ballot not through long marches, sit-ins or protest demonstrations.

Addressing the concluding session of a week-long journalists training workshop at the National Press Club (NPC), Kaira said, “The people, who want to bring revolution, should contest elections and seek vote from the people as nothing can be changed through sit-ins and protests.”

He called upon Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran (TMQ) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri to follow the democratic and constitutional course for his reforms agenda.

Kaira said if Qadri believes in democracy, he should try to get the public mandate and change the system as parliamentarian.

He said the Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran was a religious NGO and not a political party, so Qadri should better join the politics and get his party registered with the Election Commission to participate in the elections.

He wondered how Dr Qadri could bring change if he did not want to contest the elections and get the people's mandate.

The minister said there were concerns in different quarters about the Jan 14 long march as questions were being raised that from where Dr Qadri was getting funds for the purpose.

About the new wave of terrorism, he said that some elements want to delay the electoral process, but they would not succeed in their nefarious designs.

Lauding the incumbent government’s achievements, the information minister said that the policy of reconciliation had strengthened the federation and the country was put back on the path of prosperity and progress.

Kaira said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led government has successfully dismantled all the terrorist networks from the country, however he added that a few dispersed groups still exist.